The Eggman Wars
by AlterryCrimson
Summary: Eggman's on the move, plotting to wipe out the face of Mobius. With his minions on the loose, Mobius devastated by a recent blizzard, and the beginning of the end approaching, it's time for Sonic and company to give saving Mobius one last final shot.
1. Chapter 1

The Eggman Wars: Prologue

Eggman's base

A single light bulb flickered overhead, hauntingly eerie in the dust-ridden air. In the dark, concealed room, a portly, sketchy-looking scientist was seated at a messy desk; the chair sagging underneath his weight. Eggman's face was illuminated by the flashing, glowing computer screen in front of his face as he furiously typed characters onto the keyboard. Occasionally, he would pause and scratch his bald head or mutter inarticulately to himself underneath his breath, but mostly he was silent; stoic in his meticulous ongoing work. Around the room, there was evidence that it had once been used for a biological lab a long time ago. Biohazard and Radioactive as well as other unidentifiable symbols were painted onto the wall, faded and chipped away, but still easily able to make out. As Eggman would glance up from his work sometimes, he furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at the unknown symbols. If only he knew what they meant, maybe he wouldn't have that annoying, irritated, curious feeling in the back of his mind.

But that wasn't important. What was imperative was what was on hand at the moment. He shrugged and went back to typing a few more key hexadecimal characters onto the computer monitor. Behind the computer, a long, thick wire was looped around several times on top of the table before stretching off into the dark distance…

Eggman knew that Sonic and friends were probably on the move again, maybe trying to assemble themselves and try to catch him off guard. He snickered though, because he knew that was impossible. It WAS impossible. Thanks to what he was working on now. If only Metal Raymond, Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun could find those accursed chaos emeralds…! Then, his master plan would be unleashed! Eggman paused long enough from his work to throw back his head and laugh maniacally. HE, DR. ROBOTNIK WOULD SOON CONQUER MOBIUS ONCE AND FOR ALL! The bizarre blizzard was only a minor inconvenience: most of his scorpion-robots had survived, and were waiting patiently to be sent out into the field for battle again.

No one really knew what he was up to, but he would show them! He would show them once and for all what he was really all about! As Eggman swiveled his chair over to face another computer screen, he turned it on and clicked a couple of buttons. Instantly, the computer screen showed various images of around the base. Good, the closed-circuit security cameras were still working…

But that didn't really matter anyways. He was sure that if only Metal Raymond could carry out his objective successfully, there would be no need to worry about Sonic and company even REACHING his base! And Eggman had full confidence that Metal Raymond would continue wrecking the ice-tunnels to lure Sonic to come close enough, and then WABAM! Down the ceilings would come, and that would be the last he would ever hear of that accursed blue hedgehog!

Eggman threw his head back again and released another wild, deranged cackle. As he seated himself back and adjusted his black shades, he grinned furiously. So would begin his greatest attempt to exterminate Sonic and friends once and for all! So would begin his greatest conquest to control the world!

So would begin The Eggman Wars!

START OF "THE EGGMAN WARS"


	2. Chapter 2

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 1

12:01 pm

"Come on, we don't have much time!" Raymond shouted as he desperately tried to avoid another stalagmite of ice impaling him to the slippery floor. As he scrambled up on all fours, next to him, Galaxina wasn't faring too well either. Both of them were pretty badly bruised up from slipping and falling on the solid ice. Cuts were evident on their bodies as sometimes sharp pieces of ice would graze their skin. But there was simply no time to stop and rest! They had to keep on going or else!

Ice falling from the ceiling tumbled all around them as the earth seemed to shake violently, dislodging more and more snow and ice. The walls seemed to crack and crumble, causing the ceiling to shift lower and threaten to squash the two underneath it. As Raymond and Galaxina quickly and hurriedly maneuvered their way over the occasional boulders and slates of slippery ice, they made sure to duck their heads to avoid hitting it against the ceiling. It was so low that they probably couldn't even stand up straight. They were even lucky to be alive right now; one hit from a stray icicle could cause serious injury…

There! Up ahead! Raymond barely spotted Eggman's base through the ever-decreasing triangle of vision, blocked by the ice. "There! Over there!" He wildly pointed, indicating it to Galaxina. She swiftly turned to look at it, then nodded acknowledgement. "Okay no time to waste!"

They were maybe a little under 500 yards away, but Raymond swore it seemed like 500 miles. Each step they took closer to refugee seemed to be counteracted by another block of ice that fell and threatened to block their path forever. He noticed Galaxina slip and almost fall next to him, so Raymond reached out and grabbed her by the arm, and hoisted her up as the two stumbled their way towards Eggman's base.

400 yards! Now it was easy to make out the small metal door in the distance, beckoning for the two of them to enter inside; a provider of shelter and safety. As Raymond jumped over another dislodged piece of ice, he quickly let go of Galaxina's arm and pointed his mechanical wrist band at the door, firing rapidly. Needle-like bullets sprang out and whistled through the air, embedding themselves in the lock. As if on cue, the lock broke apart and the door harmlessly fell over, sounding with a loud thud. Now Raymond could barely see the darkness that lay inside Eggman's base…

300 yards! Galaxina slipped again before Raymond instinctively reached out and grabbed her by the waist this time. Having no time to stop and think about anything, he awkwardly held her in his arms bridal-style and began to charge at the door in a full out sprint.

200 yards! The stinging pain on his back indicated that much more icicles were starting to fall. The ground trembled, making Raymond almost lose his footing at a couple of points. But he knew there was no time for failure! He lowered his head and plowed on through the falling mist of snow.

100 yards! They were almost there! He could almost taste the feeling of victory and pride! His legs and lungs felt like they were burning off, but he simply forced himself to use whatever last bit of energy he had left. 50 yards… 40 yards… 30 yards… 20 yards… suddenly…

"Watch out!" Galaxina screamed as a large stalagmite of ice fell a few yards up ahead. Time now seemed to flow in slow-motion as icicles all around them appeared to fall slowly, as if they were underwater. In the spilt second that immediately followed, Raymond calculated that there was not enough time to wait for it to hit the ground harmlessly and then continue on; the ceiling was literally collapsing behind him. He just had to hope that he could pass through unharmed…

"AHH!" Raymond yelled out as he dove the last few yards, hitting the ground with his arms outstretched. Galaxina safely slid inside as he followed suit a split second later. Just in time in fact, as just when Raymond's feet cleared the doorway, the entire ceiling of ice collapsed and covered the door, providing no means of escape. As the two of them remained lying there, panting, adrenaline coursing through their veins, Galaxina managed a smile.

"We… did.. it…" She breathed, trying to catch her breath.

Raymond managed a shaky smile as well. "Yeah.. we… OUCH!" He tried to get up, but immediately toppled over on his back, clutching his right leg in obvious pain.

"Raymond!" Galaxina screamed and hurriedly rushed over to his side to see what was wrong. "What is it?"

Raymond tried to smile again. "That… icicle… I… didn't…. quite… make… it…." He softly replied as his eyes fluttered closed and he drifted off into unconsciousness.

Galaxina gently removed Raymond's hands from his leg and gasped. There was a huge gash running down his leg, blood seeping from it freely. She paused long enough to stifle a choked sob; he was seriously injured. There was no way it would be possible to recover from this. Not to mention they would have to survive here for a while, hiding from Eggman.

Yet in spite of the bleak outlook of the situation, she composed herself enough to place both hands on the wound, staunching the flow of blood. As she did so, she tore off a piece of cloth from her sleeve and gently wrapped it around Raymond's wound, acting like a tourniquet. There, at least that would stop him from bleeding to death. She sorrowfully sighed and placed a hand on Raymond's forehead, seeing him flinch slightly under her soft touch. It was what she feared; his temperature was starting to rise.

He was starting to get a fever from a possible infection from his wound. As Raymond shivered involuntarily in his sleep, Galaxina sighed and placed his head in her lap, gently embracing him and caringly stroking the bangs out of his face. As she did so, only one, unanswered thought was running through her mind…

5 miles away lay that answer to her question. A certain blue hedgehog looked in awe at the clear, blue sky. White clouds were picturesquely dotting the sky as a cool, autumn breeze whipped past his face. On either side of him were 20 feet tall walls completely made out of ice; only a narrow corridor with the sky above leading towards Eggman's base in the far distance.

"So this is what Raymond was talking about when he meant the ceiling of ice was going to collapse…" Sonic mused to himself. He just hoped the two of them were alright…

He inhaled sharply through his nose again before turning his attention to the rabble of soldiers and friends behind him. They too were looking at awe at the strange scene that lay before them: behind and to either side, the sky was covered by ice; yet in front they could see it as clear as it could be. In the distance, they could see the entire view of Mobius coated in what appeared to be a large, solid slab coating of sparkling white, brilliantly reflecting the sunlight, almost blinding them. Mobius itself was covered entirely in all ice, except for just this narrow strip of land…

"Sonic," Knuckles stepped forward from the silenced crowd. "Any idea what to make of this?"

Sonic shook his head and held up a cautionary hand in the air. "Wait up, Knuckles. I'd like to see if we can get any contact with Raymond first…"

He reached for the com-link headset on his head that Tails had given him, and turned it on, hearing the reassuring crackle of static that meant it was still working…

"Hello? Raymond? It's me, Sonic. Over." Sonic briefly spoke into the headset and patiently waited for a reply.

"…"

"Hello? It's Sonic. Over." Again, no reply. Next to him, Amy hesitantly stepped forwards to address Sonic.

"Maybe it's because they haven't turned their headset on, Sonic. Just because they're not answering doesn't mean they're in any danger…" Amy gently answered, trying to lighten the serious mood that darkened the group. No one wanted to even think about the possibility that Raymond and Galaxina might be…

Sonic tersely nodded and let out a tired sigh. "I know, you're right." He promptly turned around, and began to loudly speak to the group that stood before him.

"All of you volunteered to fight join this army to fight Eggman. You volunteered because you wanted to bring evil to justice, once and for all. But of course, this action doesn't come without risks and danger, maybe even death. Anyone that decides not to continue association in this army, please take a step forwards."

No one even moved a muscle as most were recklessly grinning at the thought of being able to fight Eggman.

"Eggman isn't some old fairy tale character where good always defeats evil in the end. You have to understand, we might not make it..."

Again, no one moved a muscle.

"We're with ya Sonic, all the way to the end and beyond!" Knuckles maniacally grinned, and jabbed his fists in the air a few times to prove his point.

"Nothing you say is going to make us want to stop from giving Eggman another beatdown!" Amy calmly declared, her piko-piko hammer appearing casually swung over one shoulder.

Sonic succinctly nodded, then turned back around to face the direction of Eggman's base. "Alright, alright; let's see how many of Eggman's robots we can make scrap metal of today!"

As they all started to walk steadily towards Eggman's base, nearby, a metallic reddish fox-like creature was waiting, concealed in the shadows…


	3. Chapter 3

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 2

12:28 pm

Outskirts of Mobius City:

Meanwhile back in Mobius City in the Ice-Twister; Tails, Cosmo, and Collin were tunneling through the ice to their first destination along the way in a desperate attempt to rescue and provide relief to all the citizens of Mobius. The mayor had suggested that they make a wide circle around the edge of the city to cover more space in less time…

The three of them had introduced themselves to each other, and already Tails and Cosmo had taken a liking to the shy and normally quiet, but pleasant and polite Collin.

"So what's your name?" Tails had asked as they had first entered the Ice-Twister.

"Collin," Collin timidly replied. "But you can call me whatever you'd like if it's easier."

"Collin's a nice name," Cosmo kindly complemented, trying to make him feel more at home and welcome.

"Thanks." Collin managed a shy smile as he seated himself in the backseat and Tails turned the engine on, starting their journey.

"No problem." Cosmo gently answered. "I'm Cosmo by the way, and that's Tails."

"Oh, nice to meet you Mister Tails." Collin softly said and hesitantly stuck out his hand for Tails to shake.

Tails chuckled and accepted Collin's handshake. "Nice to meet you to! But I'm Tails; no need to call me 'Mister' or anything."

"Oh, sorry about that." Collin apologized, lowering his head.

Cosmo giggled. "You're so shy! We're not going to hurt you or anything; we're your friends! There's no need to be so polite around us."

Collin was about to apologize again when Tails cut him off in midsentence. "And there's no need to be sorry about anything either, it's fine!" He flashed a reassuring grin.

"Oh… okay…." Collin trailed off into silence, staring off into space.

Cosmo giggled again. "If we're bothering you by trying to make you talk or anything just let us know and we'll stop. But there's no need to feel different around us."

"No no you're not bothering me!" Collin frantically tried to explain. "It's just that.. I normally don't talk much that often."

Tails smiled. "That's alright, we'll stop talking to you now then." He turned back around to face the front as the group remained quiet for a few minutes. The only sound evident was the low drone of the engine humming in the background and the high-pitched sound of ice chips hitting the front windshield. The dry, chilly air hung upon the three like a blanket of mist, enshrouding them in a transparent vapor. In the back, Collin carefully lay himself down in the backseat and closed his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. Silence…

Finally, Tails broke the awkward silence. "Mind telling us about yourself by the way? Of course you don't have to tell us if you don't want to.."

Collin snapped his eyes open and sat back up slowly, scratching the back of his head. "Me..? There's not anything really interesting about my life anyways… I think I'd bore you.." He managed a small laugh.

"Aww.." Cosmo turned around in her seat to look into Collin's light-brown eyes and kindly smiled. "That's not true at all! Or at least I'm sure we don't think so! You shouldn't put yourself down like that…"

Collin let out a long sigh, and looked up at the ceiling as if he was debating about something. Finally, he spoke up. "Okay, fine. I was born 10 years ago. I lived happily with my family. I joined the Mobius army to fight against Eggman. The End. Happy?"

"Why did you join the army?" Tails asked, prompting Collin to lower his head and stare at the ground.

"I…." Collin trailed off and remained silent for the longest period of time ever. As Cosmo turned around in her seat to see what Collin was doing, she quickly noticed that Collin had his eyes shut and was silently crying, a few tears trailing down his face.

"Oh Tails.." Cosmo sighed. "Why did you have to ask that?" She crawled into the backseat and seated herself next to Collin, hugging him from the side. "Shh.. it's okay.." She tried her best to make him feel better.

"N-No, it's not…" Collin sniffed. "I-I lied you know, I don't h-have a family.. Eggman killed them all when I was little…"

"Aww.." Cosmo rested his head on her lap as he shut his eyes again. "That's so sad… Please don't cry…" As she spoke those soothing words, Collin seemed to stop shaking and crying, until Cosmo realized he had fallen asleep. She gently lay him back down on the seat and crawled back into the front next to Tails.

"You know…" She sighed and shivered as the temperature began to drop once again. "I miss my family too…" Cosmo rested her head on Tails, staring forlornly off into the distance.

"Yeah…" Tails softly replied. "Me too…" He tried to remember his family, but he couldn't since they were taken away from him when he was little.

Cosmo seemed surprised. "Your family is…. You didn't tell me that!" She exclaimed with a pitiful look on her face.

"You never asked," Tails pointed out. "Besides, I have you guys around all the time. Especially you.." Tails kindly replied as he wrapped an arm around Cosmo's shoulders.

"Awwww…." Cosmo managed a warm smile. "Thank you Tails. That means a lot to me.. And even though I might miss my family a whole lot sometimes, I know at the very least I still have you too, Tails. You're the best anyone could ever ask for." Cosmo said as she planted a quick kiss on the side of Tails' muzzle, making him blush a shade of crimson.

"Aww it's nothing. Really." Tails responded as he tenderly cuddled with Cosmo. The temperature was getting colder as the seconds ticked by, but Cosmo and Tails didn't even notice it with each other safe, secure, and warm in each others' arms. Heat flowed from Tails' furry body into Cosmo, keeping the two of them snug and cozy as the Tails put the Ice-Twister on auto-pilot, leaning his chair back with Cosmo in his arms.

"I love you…" Cosmo breathed with a content smile on her face, ensconcing herself in the fur on Tails' chest as it gently tickled her face and cheeks.

Tails warmly smiled back as a reply. "And I love you too…" He and Cosmo were about to drift off into a nice and peaceful sleep when suddenly, a red dot appeared on the dashboard and it started to blink rapidly, prompting Tails to lean the chair back up and take the controls again.

"What? What is it?" Cosmo asked Tails with a confused expression on her face.

Tails grinned. "That's our first destination; our first stop on the path to saving Mobius!" He turned around in his seat. "Collin! Collin! Wake up!" He called out, trying to wake up the sleeping light-brown weasel.

"Huh?" Collin slowly opened his eyes. "What is it?"

"We're almost here!" Tails exclaimed, but quickly composed himself. "Oh yeah, and sorry about what happened earlier… I shouldn't have asked that… I'm sorry."

Collin frantically and vigorously shook his head. "No, no need to be! It's okay, I'm the one who should be sorry for being a bit blunt and rude!"

Tails appeared to be confused. "You? No you weren't! And even if you were, it's understandable since it was kind of a personal matter anyways."

Collin was about to argue, when this time Tails stuck his hand out to shake. "So are we good now?"

Collin smiled back confidently in return. "Yep, we're good!" He leaned forwards in his seat to try to see what was going on.

"Over there, I think if you make a slight left, we'd still be on course to maintain a large perimeter across Mobius…" Collin suggested, pointed out the front window. Tails nodded as he expertly handled the controls, while in the passenger seat, Cosmo was clutching the map in her hands. Collin leaned over and indicated at the chart with his index finger.

"See, we're just outside the Western borders of Mobius, so we'd need to make a left if we want to circle around to the South…"

Tails furrowed his brows in deep thought. "Okay…" he agreed, and swung the joysticks slightly to the left as the Ice-Twister started to make a wide curve. Behind them in the trunk, many boxes of supplies and food tumbled over each other as the momentum of the Ice-Twister curved to the side. They were stored there so that the three rescuers could distribute them out to anyone who might be in dire need of them. Though Tails wasn't sure if they'd be enough for everyone in all of Mobius…

"Oh, okay, see over there; in the distance that's the first stop." Collin pointed ahead to a small house on the edge of Mobius. Already before Tails could say anything, Collin had already maneuvered himself to the back, grabbed a box of supplies, and opened the hatch above the Ice-Twister and hopped out, hearing the crunch of compact snow underfoot. As Tails turned off the engines and got out, followed by Cosmo, the three of them gathered by the Ice-Twister as Collin handed the box of supplies to Tails. Collin and Cosmo then watched as Tails ambled over and rang the doorbell. There was a sound of muffled talking behind the front door until it swung open to reveal a very surprised otter-lady, possibly a mother.

"Ummm, Merry Christmas?" Tails hesitantly said as he handed the box to the ecstatic mother. She seemed entirely bewildered and gratefully accepted it, covering her mouth with one hand.

"Oh my.." She breathed. "You three are life-savers! Thank you so much!" She bent down and gave Tails a big hug, under which he blushed heavily.

Nearby, Cosmo giggled at Tails' uneasiness while Collin managed a reassuring smile. One down, just about a thousand more to go… Could they actually pull this off?


	4. Chapter 4

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 3

2:23 pm

…

As the Mobius army continued their onward progress towards Eggman's base, Sonic narrowed his eyes and looked suspiciously from side to side. He had sensed something a while back earlier and wasn't sure, but now he was. Something was following them!

As he raised one hand to signal the army to stop their marching and take a break, Sonic pricked his ears up, silently trying to detect any unusual sounds. He heard the noise of metal clinking against metal as the soldiers took out their canteens from their large backpacks and began drinking thirstily, filling their mouths with freezing cold water. Somewhere, lurking in the shadows, someone or something was watching them…

As Sonic continued to survey the surroundings, a dark-gray raccoon approached him.

"Sir, what is it?" The raccoon questioningly asked.

Sonic shrugged, and shook his head. "Probably nothing Finnegan, don't worry about it too much…" On the journey from Mobius to this point, Sonic had recently gotten acquainted with Finnegan along the way, finding him to be a sneaky, dare-devil type of fighter. He was someone who was never afraid of taking risks or getting himself into danger. Sonic smirked: That was definitely the type of soldiers they would need in order to beat Eggman…

As Sonic dismissed him, Finnegan sauntered over to join a group of his friends in the middle of the pack. He plopped down and unshouldered his backpack, letting it lie in a soft snow bank nearby. As Finnegan uncorked the top of his canteen and gulped down its contents, he paused to glance up at the beautiful sky above them. The sun was shining peacefully; its rays just barely reaching the ground where they stood. But the walls mostly blocked it, making their pathway to Eggman's base barely lit; seemingly dim instead.

"I heard that we're just reaching the base; only about an hour away. Ready to fight some robots?" Finnegan casually asked his friend sitting next to him, a dark blue squirrel with a black eyepatch over one eye. The squirrel questioningly raised an eyebrow.

"You kidding me? I've been born ready!" The squirrel retorted indignantly, adjusting his eyepatch to appear more fierce.

Finnegan teasingly laughed, and reached behind his back to pull out a four-sided ninja star, seeing its razor-sharp blades gleam in the dim light. "Oh really, Harper?" He taunted. "You've been "born" ready?"

As the group of friends as well as the other soldiers carried on their oblivious, careless conversations, Sonic meanwhile scoured the foreboding shadows with his sharp eyes, looking for any possible indications of any suspicious activity.

"Hmm…" Sonic thought. He was almost sure whatever or whoever had been tracking them was right nearby if his predictions were correct.

"What's up?" Knuckles joined him, glad to be away from Rogue's constant pestering.

Sonic sighed. "Oh nothing really, just thought I heard something strange…"

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Something strange? You think someone's following us, is that it?"

"Yeah," Sonic slowly nodded. "But let's not tell the others until we're sure. I don't want to cause any unnecessary excitement as they're already nervous enough.."

"Should I tell them?" Knuckles asked, gesturing towards Amy and Cream, both of whom were taking a rest nearby.

Sonic nodded. "But do it quietly without making anybody else notice or become suspicious that something's going on.."

As Knuckles flashed a silent thumbs up and began casually making his way over to Amy and Cream, Sonic looked up at the sky and whistled through his teeth. Just a few more minutes and they should start moving again…

Back at the campsite, Finnegan was engaged in a friendly competition against his friend, Harper.

"Bet you can't hit the ground even if you tried!" Harper jeered, as Finnegan twirled the ninja star around in his hands.

"You bet? You're on!" He chucked the shruiken at the far wall, but as his and Harper's eyes followed the blade as it sailed through the air, their eyes met the ones of Metal Raymond's as the shruiken embedded itself right next to its face, exposing his sneak-attack plan.

"Mayday! Intruder! Whatever you have to say to tell everyone we're under attack!" Finnegan yelped and leapt up, drawing several more shruikens from his back pocket. Next to him, Harper scrambled upright and drew out a short dagger, twirling it expertly between his fingers. Around the camp, everyone heard Finnegan's cry of alarm and immediately stopped what they were doing to turn and face Metal Raymond, who was trying to slink away into the shadows after its plot had failed.

"You!" Sonic stalked over and jabbed a finger at Metal Raymond's metallic chest. "It was you all—"

CLANG!

Suddenly, machine gun fire ripped through the camp as soldiers were immediately downed by bullets; people screaming in pain. Up ahead, a group of scorpion-robots were assembled in a straight line, firing their turrets at a constant, steady pace into the unsuspecting Mobius Army. As destruction and mayhem occurred throughout the camp, Sonic shouted at the top of his lungs; ordering the soldiers to take cover.

"Take cover! Retreat! Fall back!" Sonic desperately yelled as he barely avoided a ray of bullets slicing into the snow beside his foot, tearing the ground up. He ducked under a nearby snowbank as Knuckles joined him moments later.

"What the hell just happened? Where'd they come from?" Knuckles shouted into Sonic's ear, who in response shook his head vigorously.

"I don't know!" Sonic replied in a frustrated tone of voice. He moved position to try and take a glance above the snowbank the two of them were hiding behind. Thankfully, most of the soldiers had also taken refuge in the many piles of ice and snow, concealing themselves from the persistent bullets that ripped through the ground around their feet.

Already, many of them were starting to load their guns and fire back into the ranks of the scorpions, retaliating with deadly effectiveness and force. Several scorpions toppled over with holes through them that made them slightly resemble Swiss cheese. As more and more scorpions were destroyed and the soldiers quickly found out that the tide was turning in their favor, more and more of them started to grow reckless and run through the crossfire to a snowbank up ahead in order to get a better shot.

"What are they doing?" Knuckles growled, a bullet barely clipping one of his dreadlocks. He tried to make out what was happening, but the smoke from the guns and the mist from the snow made the battlefield very foggy and hazy to even see through. "Why are they moving ahead? Tell them to come back or else we'll be overstretched!"

"Fall back!" Sonic shouted, and used his super-speed to run from his current snowbank and zip past the flying bullets all the way to one of the front piles of snow. Seated behind it was no other than Finnegan and Harper.

"What are you guys doing?" Sonic shouted, his voice almost inaudible as the screeching sound of metal grating on metal filled the air. "You're going to get killed!"

In response, Finnegan nonchalantly shrugged and turned to Harper, grinning fearlessly. "No we won't! Come on, let's move up closer!" The two of them were about to sneak out again when Sonic roughly grabbed them and pulled them back.

"Are you guys even listening to me? Look!" He pointed above the snowbank to where the scorpions where slowly advancing. The closest one was so nearby that Sonic swore he could have just leaned over, reached out, and touched it on the head.

"Unless you want to be caught in the middle, I suggest we go back!" Sonic tried to reason with the two dare-devils.

Finnegan scratched the back of his head. "But how?" The three of them momentarily paused from their conversation long enough to duck and pull their feet in as machine gun fire ripped past their snowbank all over the place, rendering it impossible to return the way they had come.

"Oh great. That's just perfect." Sonic growled under his breath, and quickly tried to size up the situation. Already, the front line of scorpions were starting to close the gap between them and where Sonic, Finnegan, and Harper were hiding. "I didn't come all this way just to die here…"

"Watch your back, Sir!" Finnegan pushed Sonic away as a scorpion appeared around the corner, about to fire its gun when Harper threw a dagger at it, slicing right through the turret on top of it. It cleanly split in half as Finnegan then threw one of his shruiken at its head, short-circuiting the robot into blowing up.

"Yeaah!" the two fighters gave each other quick high-fives as Sonic helplessly muttered words of prayer under his breath.

"If I survive today, I swear I'm going to-"

"Look, over there!" Finnegan pointed as he and Harper peered over the top of the snowbank. Shockingly, the scorpions were actually retreating! They had turned around and began scurrying towards back towards where they had come from; Eggman's base.

"They're retreating!" Finnegan gave a whoop of delight and started to excitedly pat Harper's shoulder. "We won!"

A cry of victory arose from the survivors, temporarily forgetting about the fact that they had just come so close to losing a few moments before. Many of them started to throw their helmets and weapons into the air, shouting triumphantly.

Nearby, Finnegan bent over, grabbed a handful of snow, and flung it up into the air as a white mist seemed to explode from his hands, slowly falling and descending upon him, Harper, and Sonic.

"Hey, cut it out!" Harper shoved Finnegan into the snowbank as he stuck his tongue out teasingly.

"Nyah!" Finnegan taunted, then did a somersault to propel himself back on his feet.

Meanwhile, Sonic was joined by Amy, Knuckles, and Cream, all of whom had bizarre and confused expressions, unanswered questions written all over their faces. Knuckles reached out and extended a hand to help Sonic back up.

"Sonic!" Amy ran over and glomped him tightly. "I thought you were a goner!" She let go of him and started to reprimand him. "Don't you ever—"

"Alright alright, jeez!" Sonic backed off and held his hands up in the air in a sign of mock surrender. "I'm fine, I'm fine!"

"You okay? I sure thought we'd lose you after seeing you trapped in crossfire up in the front!" Knuckles exclaimed and patted Sonic on the shoulder to make sure he was alright.

"Yeah, yeah, I said I'm fine." Sonic brushed Knuckles' hand off and then paused to gaze at the causalities that lay scattered around the area.

"Only 16 dead, none injured." Knuckles did a quick headcount. "And then we killed 19 scorpions out of roughly 300." He glanced at Sonic, who was still remaining quiet. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Wait a second…" Sonic trailed off. "Where's Metal Raymond…? Why didn't he join in the fight?" Sonic wondered out loud, voicing what had been bothering him lately.

Knuckles shrugged. "Ah well, who cares? That's good for us, isn't it? Who knows what would have happened had he joined…"

Sonic shook his head. "No… that's not good." He glanced up at the sky, but then suddenly snapped his head back down to look at Knuckles. "That's not good at all…"

"Why?" This time it was Amy who asked the question.

"Because…" Sonic sighed, trailing off. "The only reason they would have left so soon is if Eggman called them back…"

"And why would he do that?" Knuckles wondered out loud.

"Because I think Raymond and Galaxina have been discovered." Sonic softly replied as the wind whipped past the narrow corridor, rendering an eerie, hollow whisper drifting past the lonely battlefield.


	5. Chapter 5

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 4

Eastern borders of Mobius City

2:42 pm

As Tails, Cosmo, and Collin waved a cheerful goodbye to the family living in the last house, the three of them tiredly but happily boarded the Ice-Twister and made ready to approach their next stop.

"Whew.." Collin breathed, plopping himself down in the back seat while rubbing his arms to make himself warmer as Tails revved up the engine and heater again. "Well that's number 50!" He exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air in victory.

Tails grinned and nodded. "Yep, and just five thousand more to go!" he joked as they all laughed lightheartedly. But in spite of the many more stops they had left, the three of them were in high spirits as they were making good progress. And they had also learned that there was a lot more boxes of supplies in the trunk then they had first thought to be. Definitely enough to last them for at least several hundred more houses…

"So where to next?" Collin wondered, leaning over to peer at the map in Cosmo's hand.

"Hmm…" Tails glanced at the map as well and did a quick analysis of it. "Well apparently, according to the mayor's outlined plan, we would have to circle around back down to the South where we just came from and go back the other direction." He pondered, rubbing his chin.

"Why can't we just keep on going around to the North? Isn't it much quicker that way?" Collin asked curiously.

Tails snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "There's a large forest up ahead that would make drilling through highly dangerous and impossible to do anyways." He answered in concern.

Collin widened his eyes sighed, then leaned back in his seat. "We have to go all the way around? That's going to take like 5 hours!"

Tails shrugged and nodded in acknowledgement. "More or less. Sorry guys!" He apologized.

Cosmo spoke up. "It's okay, it's not your fault it's going to take a long time. And besides, it's kind of you to think of our safety rather than think of convenience and finishing the job quickly." She smiled warmly at Tails, who smiled back in return.

Collin shrugged. "Well, I'll be in the back sleeping in case anyone wants me… Good night!" He lay himself sideways on the back seats, falling asleep almost instantly.

Cosmo giggled. "Someone sure is tired from all that work…" She noticed, pointing at Collin's snoring form.

Tails laughed as well, then rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Man, I'm pretty tired as well too though…" He yawned and stretched as Cosmo watched on in amusement.

"Wait just wondering, you're a fox, right?" Cosmo asked curiously, leaning over in her seat to rest her head upon Tails' shoulders.

"Mhmm… Why?" Tails nodded slowly as the hum of the Ice-Twister's engine was barely audible in the background.

"Cool…" Cosmo smirked as she gently rubbed the soft fur on the back of Tails' ear with her fingers, then shifted her hand until she started to affectionately scratch the area behind his ear. "So that's all you really are then..? A big, overgrown pet?" She giggled. "Ooh, can I pet you then?"

Tails blushed. "Foxes aren't pets! Not 'this' one anyways…" He tried to free himself, but ended up losing his seating and slipped; falling on his back. As Tails managed to prop himself up on his elbows, Cosmo leaned over on Tails.

"There there, Tails…" She gently rubbed the fur on his stomach while he watched on in obvious uneasiness. "Aren't you supposed to 'purr' or something?"

"Purr." Tails retorted sarcastically as he rolled his aqua-blue eyes. "But I'm not a cat you know."

Cosmo giggled again. "Aww.. but you look so cute!"

Tails snorted. "Suuure…" He expertly rolled away and sat himself back up in his seat. "Aren't we supposed to be focusing on our job at hand by the way?"

Cosmo laughed lightly. "Yeah I guess so…" As Tails was preoccupied with controlling the Ice-Twister, Cosmo leaned over and quickly tapped him twice on top of the head to pretend she pet him.

"Ha! I win!" Cosmo giggled as Tails rolled his eyes once more.

"Fine, fine…" He sighed while smirking at the same time, leaning back in his seat. Next to him, Cosmo yawned, and tilted her head to rest on Tails' shoulder, placing both of her soft hands around Tails' neck and hugged him tightly.

"You're so warm…" Cosmo breathed, half-asleep.

Tails blushed. "Heh.. Um.. Thanks?" He noticed the temperature had been fluctuating a bit strangely recently. Before when they had been traveling counterclockwise, the temperature seemed to decrease while in contrast when they started to travel clockwise, the temperature seemed to get warmer. But it was only a slight difference; maybe a few degrees on average. It was probably nothing anyways… Tails just had nothing else better to occupy his bored mind.

He leaned forwards and set the Ice-Twister to auto-pilot before leaning back into Cosmo's already sleeping body, nuzzling his face against hers.

i "Collin had estimated 5 hours. And nothing would most likely happen in that time anyways, so why not get some sleep?" /i Tails thought to himself, yawning sleepily. He tried to close his eyes and fall asleep, but somehow he didn't feel like it.

"Ugh. Maybe I should shift position then…" Tails muttered as he rolled over in his seat to face Cosmo. As he looked upon her, he couldn't help but smile warmly at her cute yet beautiful face.

"Cosmo…" Tails whispered under his breath, tenderly reaching a hand out to stroke her soft face. As his hand made contact with her cheek, she appeared to smile slightly in her sleep.

"Goodnight… My beautiful rose…" Tails breathed, leaning forwards to give her a delicate kiss on the forehead before retiring to sit back in his seat again. As he closed his eyes again with a dreamy smile on his face, he sighed happily, thinking about Cosmo…

But he still couldn't sleep, no matter what he tried. Tails snapped his eyes open and took a quick glance at the dashboard.

"No, nothing's going to happen Tails…" He reminded himself as a matter-of-factly. "Nothing's going to happen… No need to be worried… Just get some well…deserved…rest…" Tails yawned again, dazing off into space.

"Hmm… Maybe I should count sheep. That's what people do, don't they?" Tails mumbled as he stared up at the gray, blank ceiling of the Ice-Twister, starting to count in his mind.

i "One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… Eight… Nine… Ten…" /i Tails yawned for a third time as he shook his head as if to clear his muddled thoughts. "Okaay.. that's WAY too boring for me." He opened one eye, then the other to take another glance, this time outside of the front window.

i "But there's nothing else I can do at the moment anyways…" /i Tails sighed, starting to fall asleep. He felt his vision start to blacken at the sides of his peripheral vision, signaling that he was only semi-conscious and about to drift into dreamland. Already, things started to feel foggy and unclear…. The figure in front of him was just a blurry lump... i "Wonder what that is outside on the ground…" /i Tails wondered in his mind, almost falling asleep until a millisecond later when it immediately registered in his mind.

"Wait, WHAT?" Tails was continuing to lead the Ice-Twister back through the hallway they had just drilled as he spotted something up ahead. "What's that?" Tails hurriedly sat up straight, instantly alert. Next to him, Cosmo jolted awake, startled at Tails' sudden outburst.

"Up there, ahead of us!" Tails pointed ahead at a limp figure lying on the ground. He immediately hit the brakes as the Ice-Twister came to a screeching halt.

"Collin! Collin! Wake up!" Tails leaned over and rapidly shook Collin by the shoulder as he immediately jerked awake.

"Wha—what is it?" Collin exclaimed, scrambling upright.

"Someone out there's hurt!" Tails opened the hatch at the top of the Ice-Twister, allowing Collin to rush out first before he and Cosmo followed suit. As the three of them hurried over to the limp form lying in the middle of the corridor on the hard, icy ground, Tails reached the figure first.

"Hello? Are you alright?" Tails worriedly asked as he placed a hand on the person's shoulder, finding her to be a young, female light blue squirrel. Her eyes were closed, and she was barely breathing; her chest very minutely rising and falling every so often. As Tails expertly placed a hand on her neck to find her pulse, Collin and Cosmo reached his side, immediately filled with unanswered questions.

"Who is she?" Collin asked in anxiety. "Where did she come from?"

Tails shrugged. "I don't know." He moved his hand away as he finally found a faint pulse. Collin bent over and grabbed her by the shoulders; hoisting her up. "Let's take her to a hospital or something."

"Yeah, let's!" Collin agreed, and was about to head back when Tails realized something.

"Wait," He turned back around. "You do realize that all nearby hospitals are in the center of Mobius still trapped by all the ice, right?" Tails pointed out as it registered in his mind.

"Well can't we tunnel through to it?" Collin desperately asked, feeling the young squirrel's limp form in his hands twitch ever so slightly.

"Well…" Tails thought for a quick moment. "But the Ice-Twister would get stuck trying to fit in between the narrow houses and streets! I don't know if that's possible…" He contemplated the matter deeply.

"Wait, I think there's a first aid kit back in the Ice-Twister!" Cosmo spoke up, hurrying back to retrieve it as Tails and Collin followed suit.

"Come on…" Collin gritted his teeth as Tails helped him carry the unconscious figure near the Ice-Twister. Cosmo disappeared in the hatch, only to pop out again a few seconds later with a white colored first aid kit in one hand.

"Here!" Cosmo called out, flinging it towards Tails as he deftly caught it.

"Alright," Tails muttered under his breath as he opened it. "See if you can find any bruises or cuts or anything…" he told Collin, who look at quick glance at the young squirrel.

"Nope," Collin answered back, closely examining her.

Tails shrugged. "Okay well maybe she's just exhausted or dehydrated or something…" He took out a device and placed it on her chest. "Yeah her pulse is way lower than normal, I'd think she's suffering from exhaustion.."

Collin briefly nodded, then turned back to look at the young girl. "So what do you suggest we do?" As he asked that question, Cosmo came hurrying up by their side instantly.

"Did you find you what's wrong? Is she going to be okay?" She asked worriedly, her eyes wide open.

Tails nodded, and managed a small smile. "Actually, it's nothing too serious. She's just out of it for a while. I think the best thing to do would be to let her rest for a while and recover." He glanced around warily. "Where do you think her parents are?"

Collin looked around as well, trying to see where she could have come from, but not finding an answer, he shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she could stay with us for a while until she's recovered?" He looked at Tails questioningly.

In response, Tails shrugged and nodded. "Okay, that sounds like a plan." He and Collin again hoisted the young squirrel by her shoulders and carefully carried her back to the Ice-Twister. Collin gently placed her on the back seat, and made room for her by sitting on the far side while he lay her down on the other side.

"Are you sure she'll be fine?" Collin asked Tails, who smiled and nodded in reply.

"Yep." He flashed a thumbs-up. "No doubt about that!" As he made his way to the front seat and turned on the engine again, Collin looked back at the squirrel again. Who was she? Where did she come from? As these unanswered questions ran through his mind, only one thing was evident…

…Tails and Cosmo hadn't noticed it, but she had a knife concealed in her back pocket. Was she a fighter or a soldier then? Was she part of the Mobius Army? Collin shook his head. No, that was impossible; the only female he had noticed was that sneaky bat, Rogue.

As Collin hesitantly reached out a hand and gently pulled out the knife from her back pocket, he looked at its shining blade in awe. There was something special about this he knew. Something… familiar… But what was it? He couldn't quite put a finger to it, but he knew it wasn't hers. It belonged to someone else… But who?


	6. Chapter 6

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 5

Eggman's base

3:30 pm

As the sounds of heavy footsteps in the distance faded away, Galaxina let a silent sigh of relief, still curled up in a tight ball next to the far, metal wall in the basement. As she leaned against the cold surface, closing her eyes momentarily to take in the moment, to the immediate left of her, Raymond stirred, twitching his nose as it wrinkled up slightly.

"G-Galaxina…?" He croaked, turning to face her and stared into her lavender eyes.

"Shhh…" Galaxina scooted over to where he was and placed a caring hand on his forehead, feeling him tense up slightly before slowly relaxing under her soft touch. "You should really get some rest…"

Raymond slowly shook his head. "I couldn't sleep t-the whole t-time…" He paused to catch his breath for a moment as he winced. "H-How bad is it…?" Raymond managed to ask before his face contorted in pain as spasms racked throughout his leg. Worried, Galaxina turned to examine his wound, but she could barely make out the light-blue cloth stained red from his blood.

"Y-You'll be okay… I-I know it…" Galaxina tried her best to smile and contain herself from choking up, but faltered as Raymond groaned.

"R-Really…? P-Promise…?" Raymond asked, also trying to smile back in response.

"I promise…" Suddenly, Galaxina thought back to the time when Raymond had promised the exact same thing to her, and yet how did it turn out? She witnessed Raymond being beat down as Eggman captured her and locked her, Tails, and Cosmo deep down beneath his fortress. But she still had hope, didn't she? She still clung on to that last bit of hope that Raymond would come back and save her… And it happened, didn't it? In the end, they were rescued and everything worked out fine, even though it didn't seem like it at times…

"T-Thanks…" Raymond whispered, pulling Galaxina out of her thoughts. He tried to reach out to grab Galaxina's hand, but couldn't muster enough energy to and faltered.

"Shh…" Galaxina gently took Raymond's hand in hers and grabbed it tightly, never letting go. "I promise we'll make it out of here alright again. Sonic and the rest will come to our rescue inside of Eggman's base. They've done it before, and I have confidence they can do it again…"

"O-Okay… if you s-say s-so…" Raymond stuttered before closing his eyes once again and falling off into a distant level of consciousness…

Galaxina sighed, then turned back to face the far wall, still clutching Raymond's hand as he examined her surroundings…

The metal-walled room was rather dark, making it hard to see one's own self, not to mention other people or things that might be lying around the room. All she had to rely on was that Sonic and company could make it here in time before Raymond might possibly…

"No," She thought to herself hastily. "He's not… he's going to be alright. Sonic'll come. They'll be here any minute. I know it." Galaxina tried to lighten the dark mood, but only managed to half-heartedly encourage herself. And even that kind of failed. It had been 3 hours since they had made it here, and Raymond had been out cold ever since. At least the bleeding had seemed to stop a while ago, but Galaxina wasn't sure if he could get sick from his infection and…

"Oh if only I KNEW what to do in this situation!" Galaxina sobbed. She was lying to herself. In reality, even she knew Raymond didn't have much longer to live in his condition. There was no denying the fact that he was slowly dying…

Galaxina crumpled against the wall, breaking down emotionally as silent tears ran down her wet face. Here Raymond was, dying in front of her eyes! And she couldn't do a single thing about it!

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps in the distance resounded again as Galaxina quickly shrugged her tears off and curled herself up, taking intense care not to make a sound. The sound of taking… someone outside the room was talking with another person in a low yet distinct voice…

Eggman! Galaxina sat up straight and perked her ears, trying to tune in to their conversation. What was he doing here? Did he know that they were hiding just under a hundred yards away? She hoped not…

"Did you find them?" Eggman's gruff voice penetrated the quiet, still air.

"I did…" the second voice softly yet cunningly replied in an all-too-familiar raspy tone of voice. "Thanks to your brilliant plan of course…" He quickly added.

"Good, good." The sound of pacing was heard as the two of them remained quiet for a short while. "I presume you know that everything's been set up, right?"

"Yes master, I'm aware of that. I'd also like to mention that in a few hours, Sonic and his medley of friends and soldiers are going to be showing up at your front doorstep… I suggest you follow through with the plan very soon, Master…" the other person pondered before speaking up again. "I'll have our army rounded up again if you'd like…"

"Yes, yes; do that, will you? And make sure you get Bocoe, Decoe, and Bokkun to report to me immediately! I need those bumbling fools to assist me in my.. ahh.. "set-up" so to say…" Eggman ordered, obviously in a dark mood as if he didn't expect Sonic to show up so soon.

"Yes Master.. I shall do that right away…" The second person was barely audible as he seemed to just disappear from any sounds that Galaxina could pick up. As Eggman also stalked away, she leaned over and gently shook Raymond to try and wake him up.

"Raymond! Raymond!" She tried her best to mutter under her breath. "Raymond! Wake up!"

Raymond jolted awake and lifted his head up off of the ground, looking around. "W-What? W-What is it?"

"Sonic and everyone are going to be here soon! I told you they'd come, didn't I?" She barely managed to suppress a smile as Raymond yawned and shrugged it off.

"I n-never said that they w-weren't going to rescue us…" Raymond whispered as he propped himself on his elbows, peering around in the nearly pitch-black room. "H-How did y-you find out anyways?"

"It's Eggman." Galaxina flatly stated. "And someone else familiar. They were talking outside the room just a few moments ago about some sort of "set-up" plan and counterattack against Sonic." She suddenly gasped as she realized what she was saying. "Wait, we need to warn them, don't we? They could be in a lot of danger right now!"

"Y-You're right!" Raymond snapped awake as he recognized the seriousness of the situation. "W-We've got to f-find a way to g-get c-communication with them!" He looked around for the com-link headset that Tails had given him before remembering that it had fallen off while the two of them were escaping from the falling snow. "W-We've got t-to g-go and s-stop E-Eggman then!"

"Wait!" Galaxina stopped Raymond from trying to stand up. "You can't go and fight him! You're barely conscious and severely injured!"

"S-So?" Raymond again tried to stand up, but ended up falling over as he started to put weight on his injured leg. "I… c-can't… let… that… stop… me!" He propped himself back on his feet after trying again, staggering around to keep his balance.

Galaxina folded her arms crossly and closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I'm not going to let you, Raymond! I understand that they might be in danger, but so are we if you haven't noticed! And I'm sure they'll find a way to defeat whatever scheme Eggman has set up for them anyways! I'm not letting you go out into danger and risking your life!"

She opened her eyes to see what Raymond's response would be, but he was nowhere to be seen…

"Raymond…? Raymond!"

5:42 pm

5 miles away…

Sonic had assumed control of the army, keeping a steady, yet cautious pace as they approached closer and closer to Eggman's base. He wasn't sure yet, but he figured Eggman would have something waiting for them in surprise, and Sonic wasn't too enthusiastic to find out what it might be. A counterattack? Probably, he more or less expected one…

"Do you think Eggman's going to try a counterattack soon?" Knuckles asked to the side of him, voicing his exact thoughts out loud.

"Probably…" Sonic softly replied, looking up ahead at the looming, foreboding fortress in the distance. Somewhere in there, Raymond and Galaxina desperately need their help. No one knew what situation the two of them might be in… They could only hope they would be able to hold out for a little while longer…

"Sonic?" Amy asked, her piko-piko hammer casually hanging over one shoulder. "Who was that by the way?"

"Who was who?" Sonic asked in response.

"That… strange robot person back when we were battling. The one that looked a bit like Raymond…" She asked out of curiosity.

"Oh.." Sonic trailed off as he started to wonder why Metal Raymond had showed up as well. Why had he tried to sneak into their camp, and then suddenly left? It couldn't have been because Raymond and Galaxina were discovered… no, Sonic dismissed that thought because it didn't seem to cover the whole story. Metal Raymond must have been trying to do something specific, but what? Was he looking for something?

"Sonic? Sonic!" Sonic snapped out of his thoughts to see Eggman's base straight up ahead.

"Sonic! We're here." Knuckles stated.

Sonic sighed. "Thank you for informing me of the obvious, Knuckles.." He quickly glanced around to look at the rest of them. "Alright, let's sit back and come up with a good plan before we start attacking… Eggman's bound to have some sort of tricks up his sleeve, and we want to make sure they don't catch us off guard. Tonight, we begin the rescue mission!" He loudly proclaimed, yet worried for the outcome of the battle..


	7. Chapter 7

Lol wow I'm writing really fast... probably because I got a whole bunch of reviews and I don't want to disappoint any of my readers I guess XD

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 6

5:41 pm

Raymond hastily shifted position, fading away into the shadows of the nearby wall as a couple of scorpion guards scuttled by, oblivious to the dark-red furred fox. As they rounded the corner in the distance, the sounds of their pincers and claws on the metallic ground fading away, Raymond quickly scurried ahead to the next wall as fast as his injured leg would let him. He nearly collapsed on the ground once he reached safety, the dim light concealing his position from any onlookers or more robots as Raymond clutched his leg in pain, feeling the area around his wound start to numb.

"Rrgg.." Raymond untied and retied the tourniquet again to staunch the gash in his thigh and prevent it from slipping off. As he did so, he felt very light-headed and dizzy, close to passing out…

"C-Can't… s-stop…" Raymond scolded himself and quickly got back up in a crouching position as he readied to move a bit closer to the stairwell in order to go up another floor. Once he did so, he would repeat the whole process until he found Eggman. He had come about halfway in the past couple of hours, and he wasn't about to let up his search…

"Ready….Set…" Raymond whispered to himself, looking cautiously around and perking his ears up to see if anymore robots would be coming around. "Now!" He darted into the next patch of shadow by the stairwell, diving for safety just in case. As he rolled behind the stairwell, he examined his wound again, finding it to be in pretty bad condition.

"Ah well…" Raymond sighed to himself as he again untied and retied the tourniquet, feeling that familiar dizziness again. "I c-can deal w-with it.. I h-hope…." He slowly stood up, tiptoeing his way up the staircase, keeping an eye out for anyone would might be coming down the steps. Every step Raymond took that put pressure on his injured leg made him literally fall over in pain. He had to end up using the railing to aid him as he hopped upstairs on one foot, taking care to protect the other.

As Raymond finally reached the top of the stairwell, he ducked into the corner as another robot passed by, barely missing him. Raymond breathed a quick thank-you to the darkening lighting of the interior of the fortress as he continued his journey onwards.

"Now w-where is t-that darn Eggman when you're looking f-for him?" Raymond muttered to himself, keeping close to the shadows. His feet barely made a sound as it made contact with the hard floor, lightly treading around the area.

As the red fox quietly stalked around the place, he perked his ears up when he heard a noise in the distance. Raymond hurriedly crouched in case it was another robot.

…

Nothing. Raymond shrugged, maybe he was imagining it…

There! There it was again! Something in the distance! Raymond crouched down again for a second time as he waiting for what seemed like the longest minute of his life. Sweat trickled down his brow as he gritted his teeth in nervous anticipation.

…

Raymond slowly stood up again, and cautiously moved forwards. Maybe it wasn't a robot then. As he approached closer to the source of the noise, he could barely make out talking. Eggman? Perhaps…

The noise grew louder as Raymond rounded the corner. He was greeted with another dark hallway, yet at the end of it shone a light from a door at the end of the hallway. A faint reflection of light…

Raymond quickly yet quietly raced to the far wall, then the near one, then the far one; repeating this process several times over until he reached the door. He slid his body across the wall, and then slowly peering in, not knowing what he would expect.

The first thing he noticed was a shadowy figure before Raymond whipped his head back, panting heavily, preventing himself from being noticed. Instead of taking another peek into the room, Raymond simply placed his ear on the wall and tried to listen…

"…all ready…." Raymond could barely make out the words through the thick, metal wall. But he could hear enough to pick out a few, certain key words.

"Good…." More mumbling, before Raymond picked up the word "recording" and then "robot" and then another word that kind of sounded like "hurled" but couldn't quite figure it out.

However, Raymond knew enough to figure out that the two people inside could be no one else other than Eggman and Metal Raymond. He perked his ears up again as he tried to listen closely….

"…army…" Was all he heard before the conversation briefly ended and suddenly the sound of walking grew closer and closer to the doorway. Startled, Raymond immediately slid down into a crouched position, curled up against the wall as suddenly Metal Raymond emerged from the doorway in all of his sinister, dark red metal body. Two razor-sharp, gleaming swords hung from his back, one green, the other white. On each of his wrists, Metal Raymond wore an almost exact replica of Raymond's own metal wristbands; the same cuff design and dark gray color. He looked almost like Raymond, except where Raymond had fur, Metal Raymond had a cold steel plating. Not to mention his eyes seemed to bore into your very soul…

…But thankfully Raymond didn't have to experience that as Metal Raymond simply seemed to not notice the red fox lying on the ground nearby, instead stalking off into the distance. As Raymond let out a sigh of relief, he quickly turned his attention to Eggman, who was probably still in that room.

Raymond made a quick calculation in his head. He almost considered running in there and confronting him one-on-one, but he wasn't sure whatever else might be in there, waiting for him. Besides, Eggman wasn't on his list of priorities right now; helping Sonic and company from the army was…

The army! That's where Metal Raymond was probably headed right now! Raymond quickly got up and fearlessly darted in the direction of where Metal Raymond had went, feeling the pain in his leg multiply by the second. Soon, Raymond had to keel over and grab his thigh as he gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to subside.

"Argh!" Raymond waited until the pain was only a dull ache, and then slowly crawled upwards, regaining his footing shakily.

"I… have… t-to… stop… him…." Raymond kept muttering to himself over and over again, as if it was the only thing that would keep him going through the pain…

Meanwhile…

Outside of Eggman's base

Sonic was lying flat on his stomach in the cold snow, seeing the last rays of sun brightly gleam, and then disappear in the horizon. As darkness quickly overtook its place, Sonic chanced a look upwards at Eggman's base. He slowly stood up, and then contemplated how he would make it inside of Eggman's base.

Usually all he would have to do would be to spin-dash through everything Eggman had to throw at him, but he couldn't risk doing that with the lives of others at stake. So frustratedly, Sonic had to defer to other tactics and schemes…

"Knux!" Sonic hissed, turning to face his red-colored companion. "Do ya think you can tell the army to swing around to the left? That way, we can try to enter the same way as before, or at least surprise Eggman if it comes to the point of a battle."

Knuckles nodded slowly. "Okay, I will." He whispered back and raced backwards to inform the army. As Sonic started to walk towards the left face of Eggman's fortress, making sure to hide behind the occasional pile of snow, not that it mattered since it was dark outside; he turned around to barely make out Knuckles' figure in the dim light.

"Did you tell them?" Sonic asked as Knuckles came up alongside him.

Knuckles briefly nodded before explaining. "They're on their way right now. We have to move really quickly if we want to do this undetected. If we start to move out across the open and Eggman sees us, then… who knows what'll happen…"

Sonic also nodded, trying not to think about that possibility. "Well, we'll just be sure to stay concealed and move as quickly as possible. Signal for them to start now." He commanded Knuckles as the red echidna raised a hand, trying to get someone's attention. He managed to catch the eye of some other soldier, and as Knuckles beckoned hurriedly, the soldier nodded and went back to tell the rest.

"Okay… here goes nothing…." Sonic gritted his teeth and watched as their risky plan started to unfold. They just had to hope that for about a few minutes, Eggman wouldn't chance a look outside his window onto his front lawn….

Inside the fortress…

Raymond had long lost track of his metallic counterpart, having to make multiple stops along the way to rest his injured leg. As he caught his breath for the umpteenth time, Raymond slowly stood up and started to make his way down the hallway again.

Yet… as he did so, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He suddenly stopped what he was doing to peer out of the window, his eyes widening at what he saw.

At first, Raymond almost wanted to jump for joy at seeing Sonic and the army right here. Yet his second and immediate impulse was to scream at them.

"What the hell are they doing?" Raymond wanted to shout out in astonishment. He could see the whole Mobius army right out in the open, completely unprotected and vulnerable to any attack.

Raymond quickly waved his arms frantically to try and get their attention, yet that was impossible seeing how far away he was. He considered lighting a ball of fire, but that too was no use. The only other option was to make sure that Metal Raymond didn't notice them…

With that, Raymond sprinted down the hallway with desperation fueling his attempts now.

Outside Eggman's base…

Sonic looked back over his shoulder to see that already about a third of the army had made it to safety. He smiled briefly, knowing that in just a couple of minutes they could all breathe easier. Plus, there seemed to be no movement or noise whatsoever from inside Eggman's base, showing no indication that they had noticed the army…

Sonic turned to Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Rouge as the five of them gathered around to discuss what they were going to do next when suddenly, he heard a distant humming sound as it started to fill the air.

Soldiers everywhere briefly stopped to wonder what in the world that could be, before an all-too-familiar metallic clang and pounding resounded. Suddenly, scorpion-robots roared over the far hill in the distance, stampeding closer and closer to the vulnerable army.

Sonic glanced backwards and was about to shout for them to retreat when he saw that there was no way that was possible. Most of the army was completely stuck right in the middle, straight in the path of the oncoming scorpions.

There was no way possible it could have happened; it seemed like this attack sprung out of nowhere. Yet, as Sonic fearfully looked on, his soldiers desperately grouping themselves together in some sort of organized stand against Eggman's robots, surely the end would be here.

But as Sonic was about to find out, someone decided to have a different say in the matter. As the stampede of scorpion-robots rounded the next hill closer to the Mobius army, suddenly from inside Eggman's base, a huge flare of light and a stream of fire shot out, stretching far enough to engulf most of the robots in a huge flame. It completely enveloped them, a great cloud of smoke and ash everywhere flying randomly in all directions. As it slowly died away, everyone could see that the robots were all completely burnt to bits, nothing left of them…

Sonic let out a huge sigh a relief as he smiled, knowing who that must be. He didn't waste time however, quickly turning to his army and proclaiming with a loud, "CHARGE!"

Inside Eggman's base.

Raymond also grinned, knowing that he had just basically saved the army from complete annihilation. He was about to race back when his celebration was cut short as Metal Raymond appeared from the shadows, staring him straight in the eyes, seemingly piercing into his very soul, and not at all looking very happy…


	8. Chapter 8

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 7

6:12 pm

Eggman's base

The already dim hallway seemed to dim even further as Metal Raymond's eyes narrowed into slits, noticing Raymond. The previous, victorious feelings from just before had vanished; sucked right out of the air in a split second. Time seemed to tick by slower and slower, as the only thing the two fighters were focused on was each other, vigilantly seeking a weakness in the other's form and posture. Metal Raymond's dark, elusive figure seemed to magnify even bigger and more intimidating as it took a menacing step forwards, getting into a battle-ready stance with its steel fists out in front of itself. Now nothing separated the two from a final, inevitable battle.

"Raymond…" Metal Raymond finally spoke, slurring the words in his raspy yet cunning voice. "What a surprise it is to see you here!" He exclaimed, appearing genuinely shocked as to Raymond's appearance. Yet Raymond knew that underneath that deceiving gesture, Metal Raymond was seething furiously after he had managed to foil its attempt to wipe out the Mobius army.

"Oh really now?" Raymond tried his best to keep up the casual conversation, attempting to blot out the slicing pain in his leg from his mind as well.

"Tell me, when Eggman built you, what could have POSSIBLY been going through his mind at the time?" Raymond retorted unfalteringly, yet slowly edging farther and farther away back out of the hallway. He slowly slid back along the smooth, steel wall, trailing its surface with his back, trying to retreat from danger.

"World Domination, perhaps. Or rather, something brilliant enough to create such a masterpiece as myself…" Metal Raymond ignored Raymond's futile gesture, tracing his steel claws over the wall as well. It sliced through the metal walls like a hot knife through Swiss cheese, barely even making a sound as it clove it to shreds. Neither of them was really paying any attention to the conversation as of the moment, as Metal Raymond again took a ominous step forward towards Raymond.

"Any specific intention in mind, would you care to enlighten me?" Raymond took another cautious step backwards, yet he knew escape wasn't an option. A conflict would be unavoidable. He resigned to the prospect of running away as he got ready into a basic stance.

"Actually, yes indeed." Metal Raymond continued advancing towards Raymond, taking a step each word he spoke as if to accent them even further. The pale light from outside gently filtered through the windows as Metal Raymond walked into one of the beams, illuminating his shining coat of armor.

"Oh, really? What, I may ask?" Raymond stopped backing up and held his ground, fearlessly staring Metal Raymond down in the eyes. He glared, knowing it was only just a matter of seconds…

"To eliminate you!" Metal Raymond growled as he brought a foot forwards crashing into Raymond's chest. Immediately Raymond tumbled backwards onto the hard surface of the floor, yelping, his head reeling in pain.

He tried scrambling upwards, only to have Metal Raymond's foot come into contact with his side. As Metal Raymond kicked Raymond in the side, causing him to keel over again, it brought its foot up in an attempt to bring it down on Raymond with full force.

Yet Raymond's reflexes saved him at the last moment as he flung his hands out in front of him to block Metal Raymond's foot, holding it tightly. He eluded the blow, and rolled away, clutching his side in pain.

"Grr…" Raymond growled, the two of them circling again. He stopped to chance a look over his shoulder to contemplate escape, but his evil counterpart was blocking the only pathway to safety.

Suddenly, Metal Raymond lunged forwards and delivered a punishing blow to Raymond's face, pounding him with its steel fists. Raymond wildly staggered to the side, his nose bleeding freely.

"Is that all you've got?" Metal Raymond taunted as Raymond stumbled backwards, one hand against the wall for balance, the other held to his face in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. "Come on! It ends here, Raymond!"

Despite the numbing pain in his leg, Raymond charged forwards right at his opponent, who simply ducked and caught Raymond with its shoulder and fists, causing him to flip over due to his forward momentum. As Raymond hit the floor hard, Metal Raymond simply brought his foot around again and kicked Raymond in the side of the head.

By now, Raymond was nearly unconscious, but he still managed to struggle upwards and ward off another punch, finally delivering his own blow when he torched Metal Raymond right in the face.

"H-How.. *pant* H-How'd you l-like t-that..!" Raymond gasped for breath, his vision starting to blacken around the edges.

In response, Metal Raymond casually shrugged, and grabbed Raymond's head with both hands, bringing it crashing into his knee. He then shoved Raymond backwards into the wall, arms flailing, and then punched him straight in the gut before elbowing him in the side of the head once more.

Raymond fell to the ground hard, sprawled out; almost unconscious as Metal Raymond snickered sinisterly and stood over his body, one arm raised and the replica of his metal wrist band ready to fire. He, Raymond, had finally been defeated. All he could do was wait for the final blow that would deliver him into oblivion…

Yet it never happened as Metal Raymond leaned over and roughly pulled Raymond stumbling up to his feet, holding his mechanical wristband to the side of his head.

"Wha—?" Raymond barely muttered, lurching ahead as Metal Raymond kept a steely-like grip on the back of his neck, leading him down the corridor back the way they had just came from.

"I'm not going to kill you. Yet." Metal Raymond blankly answered. "Though I'd imagine the good doctor would like a word with you first…" It merely replied, dragging the injured Raymond along the cold surface of the ground.

As the two of them rounded the final corner and Metal Raymond shoved Raymond inside the room, Raymond looked up, and his eyes widened in spite of all the pain he was dealing with.

"Oh, so THAT'S what this is all about then?" He asked in bewilderment as the door slammed shut, clicking into place.

Outside Eggman's base

The Mobius army pounded over another snowbank, Sonic spin-dashing at the lead. No time for safety now as he assumed Raymond would be in grave danger after risking his hiding spot in order to save them.

Finally in a matter of seconds, Sonic reached the front door and barreled it down, barely meeting any resistance except for a few, unimportant robot-like minions. He blew them apart to shreds, not taking a moment to stop. The first, immediate priority was to get to where Raymond and Galaxina where and make sure they were safe.

"Raymond!" Sonic shouted, in the midst of obliterating another robot. He perked an ear up, but couldn't determine if he heard anything in response or not.

Right behind him, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream came racing up.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted, running to meet up with the blue hero who in return desperately tried to avoid her.

"Where are they?" Knuckles asked in confusion, sharply turning his head from side to side. Only the sound of a faint trickling of water was heard, nothing more.

Squinting ahead in the foggy distance, Sonic simply shrugged a reply, and sped ahead, leaving only a blue trail in his wake.

"Grrr.." Amy growled in contempt. "That darn Sonic. Leave it to him to leave us behind!" Her piko-piko appeared in her hands as she stormed after the blue hedgehog, steaming.

The instant she left, the front runners of the Mobius army reached the interior of the fortress, having successfully beaten off the futile resistance Eggman provided.

"What is it? Where are they?" Finnegan pryingly asked Knuckles, deliberately waving his ninja stars around in the air right in front of Knuckles' face.

Knuckles shut his eyes and slowly spat out a reply. "I don't know how the hell you…"

"Well come on then! We don't got all day ya know!" Finnegan cut Knuckles off in midsentence, prompting the red echidna to look up at the ceiling in helplessness. He had to help Sonic! He couldn't be stuck here dealing with this kid!

"Hold on a sec kiddo, how about this?" Knuckles tried to get Finnegan's attention by grabbing him tightly, putting his mouth right next to Finnegan's ear and whispering in a slow, yet forceful tone of voice. "I've got to go look for something, but I need someone to lead the army. Do you think you're up for the challenge?"

Finnegan's eyes lit up in obvious excitement. "Me? Of course I am! You can count of me, Sir!" He fearlessly saluted, prompting Knuckles to mentally sigh in relief. He turned to Cream, who was patiently standing nearby.

"Um Cream, do you mind if you watch over-"

"I don't need no "watching over" Sir! I can handle this by myself!" Finnegan insisted as Knuckles held up his hands.

"Alright alright, just don't get yourself killed or anything!" He and Cream ran down the opposite hallway to meet up with Sonic and Amy while the dark-colored raccoon smirked and turned to face his comrades.

"So….… who wants to go find some more robots to smash?"

Meanwhile…

Another robot exploded as a blue blur flew past the debris, determined to reach its destination in time. Sonic bounded up another flight of stairs and kept up his search.

i"Where was Raymond?" /i Sonic kept on thinking to himself in his mind. The evening was setting in; the sun had already set. With barely any lighting on the interior of Eggman's fortress, shadows seemed to leap out of nowhere from dark corners, their ominous free-flowing shapes floundering by.

Suddenly, a hand reached out of nowhere and grabbed Sonic by the shoulders, holding on tightly. Startled, Sonic yelped and spun around swiftly, noticing the blue-haired figure that had seemed to come out of nowhere…

"Galaxina!" Sonic exclaimed in astonishment. "What are you doing up here? I thought—"

"Raymond left!" Galaxina cut in, her eyes full of fear and helplessness. "I tried… But… he…"

"Don't worry about it!" Sonic put a reassuring hand on her shoulders, flashing a grin. "We already know; he helped save us from near obliteration! Knuckles, Amy, Cream and the Mobius Army are already here, so you should hurry back downstairs to a safer location! I'll find Raymond, don't you worry!" Sonic didn't wait for a response as he sped off around a corner, leaving Galaxina alone in the dark hallway.

"But…." She tried to call after him before being interrupted by a pink hedgehog.

"SONIC!" Amy rushed past, furious and eager to find the blue hero for leaving her. As she too rounded the corner, Galaxina blinked in unease.

"Oh dear… I hope they'll be okay…" She sighed helplessly and also followed the direction the two hedgehogs had taken.

Meanwhile…

"We're lost, aren't we?" Cream politely asked a silent Knuckles as the two of them walking down another dim hallway.

"No, we're… exploring…" Knuckles muttered, looking from side to side suspiciously for any enemies.

"I think we've been here before, haven't we?" Cream wondered out loud. On her shoulder, Cheese squeaked in agreement.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. "How the hell am I supposed to know? These hallways all look the same to me!" The red echidna shook his head, trying to clear his mind of any distractions.

i "Just focus and listen for any odd sounds… Maybe I can still find them…" /i He meditated, closing his eyes.

"Umm…"

Knuckles opened an eye and scowled. "Yes, what is it?" He barked, slightly annoyed.

Cream shook her head. "Never mind…" She mumbled under her breath as they continued wandering around.

The long shadows inside the fortress seemed to lengthen even more as the moon appeared in the night sky, a silver semicircle glowing in a dark pool. A silent, cold wind fluttered past the upper windows of the Eggman fortress as friend and foe alike knew that this battle was far from over. Nighttime brought along a whole new struggle. And at the present time, no one knew that more than Eggman as he readied his final, desperate plan.


	9. Chapter 9

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 8

6:23 pm

Mobius City

Inside a small, white-walled hospital, nurses and attendants were scurrying around the narrow hallways in their customary white gowns, clipboards tucked under one arm. Since the blizzard, more and more citizens were pouring in the hospital, mainly for relief and shelter. Tails, Cosmo, and Collin had finished cutting clear paths around and through Mobius City utilizing Tails' Ice-Twister, and were just about finished depositing the remainder of their supplies at the front desk in case they missed anyone.

The fox and his friends at the moment were sitting casually on one of the benches outside a specific room, remaining silent; exhausted after a long day. Cosmo was leaning her head against Tails, who had his twin tails wrapped around her. Collin had picked up a stray clipboard off of the ground and was twirling it around out of boredom.

An hour ago, the three of them had brought their mysterious guest to the hospital for immediate attention, and were now waiting for the results…

Finally, the door opened and a small, neatly dressed nurse walked out. The three of them quickly stood to attention as she approached the small group of friends.

"How is she?" Tails asked, concerned. The dim light from the fluorescent light bulbs overhead fell across his muzzle, causing him to squint slightly.

"She'll be fine. Good thing you brought her here quickly though or else she might be in a much worse condition…" The nurse responded caringly. In the distance, another nurse was seen pushing a cart across the hallway into another room. Probably more people waiting to be attended to from the blizzard…

"Can we see her?" Collin hesitantly asked, trying to peer over the nurse's shoulders into the room behind her.

The nurse smiled sadly and shook her head. "I'm sorry, she's not ready to have anyone around quite yet. I'll let you know once she's ready though."

"Oh okay…" Collin sighed despondently, trailing off, looking down at his feet.

"In the meantime, why don't you three make yourselves comfortable?" The nurse kindly suggested. "There's a cafeteria down the hallway in case any of you are hungry. I'm sure you all must be tired after what you all did today." The nurse replied and winked, indicating with her hand the direction of the dining hall.

Tails nodded his head and accepted the offer gratefully. "Thank you. And it's what we love doing anyways." He smiled softly as the nurse turned around and reentered the room, slowly shutting the door behind.

Collin let out a long, exasperated sigh. "What do we do now..?"

"I hope she'll be alright…" Cosmo softly said, also glancing at the closed blinds on the windowsill.

"The nurse said she'll be fine, don't worry about it." Tails replied, flashing a quick grin. "How about we get something to drink while we wait?"

"Okay!" Cosmo beamed back at Tails, who smiled back and began ambling down the hallway with her and Collin trailing behind.

Outside the cozy hospital, night was just about settling in as the temperature sharply dropped and gusts of chilly winds blew from the atmosphere. Despite the hospital's heating system, it was becoming rather cold indoors as the three friends arrived at the cafeteria and ordered three cups of hot chocolate, sitting down at a nearby table with other customers casually talking in the background.

"I didn't expect there to be so many people here.." Collin noticed, looking around at the other people sitting at surrounding tables. "Usually there aren't even half as much people as there are now.."

Tails shrugged, also noticing it. "It could be that the blizzard knocked the power out of some people's houses, so they have no choice but to take refugee here."

"When do you think all the snow is going to melt?" Cosmo asked, sipping her hot chocolate carefully, making sure not to burn her lips.

"Well, it is only mid-autumn, so unless the temperatures rise soon, it could stay this way once winter comes along.." Tails explained thoughtfully.

"Well I kind of like it this way. It's so cool to see mountains of snow piled everywhere!" Collin replied excitedly, ideas of building huge snow-sculptures and snowball fights dancing in the back of his mind.

"I like snow too, but I also miss seeing the pretty, colorful flowers blooming everywhere and the trees full of lush, green leaves.." Cosmo quietly answered, sighing happily as she reminisced of distant memories of her visit to planet Breezy a while ago.

Tails in response wordlessly wrapped his twin tails around her as she shivered slightly under the cold.

"Well on the bright side, there's always springtime to look forwards to!" He replied and winked, smiling cheerfully.

"You're right! I had forgotten how beautiful your planet seemed when I first arrived here.. Seems like it was such a long time ago.." Cosmo sighed again, closing her eyes and leaning into Tails' warm body as he snuggled back. The hot chocolate he had just recently consumed left a sweet taste in his mouth and made him feel drowsy, slowly closing his eyes..

"How do you think the rest of them are doing?" Collin suddenly asked, catching Tails off guard.

"Hmm? What?" Tails asked, blinking to ward off his drowsiness.

"I mean, how do you think the battle is going against Eggman? Do you think they've already won?" Collin clarified, wondering what the yellow fox thought about the situation.

"I don't really know," Tails contemplated slowly, "But if I had to pick Sonic and Knuckles and Amy or Eggman, then it's almost a no-brainer." He chuckled, relieving Collin slightly as he thought about his friends back in the army.

"Who knows? Sonic just might come rushing in here any minute now." Tails glanced ahead at the revolving doors in the main lobby, but more out of show than hopeful anticipation.

Collin shrugged and laughed as well. "Yeah, I don't think Eggman has a chance in this war either."

The young light-brown weasel stood up from the table, setting his empty cup of hot chocolate aside.

"I'm going to go back and check and see if our guest is alright. Do you mind?"

Tails shook his head. "Not at all! We'll be there in a second." He gently nudged Cosmo, who slowly woke up, yawning.

"Hmm..? What time is it..?" She sleepily asked, gently resting her head against Tails' shoulder.

"It's time for you to wake up!" Tails dryly replied, smirking.

Cosmo giggled in response and sat up straight, letting Tails help her up from her chair. "You're really too kind.." She remarked mockingly, her eyes twinkling, full of innocent, childish laughter.

"I know." Tails wryly commented, drawing another giggle from Cosmo. "Come on, let's go." He gently picked her up in his arms and started to carry her bridal-style across the hospital to the room…

Once the three of them arrived, Collin was the first to gently knock on the wooden door.

"Come in!" A muffled reply sounded from inside as he cautiously opened the door, curiously peering in.

The interior of the room was like any other; a dreary gray color painted on the walls and ceiling. A nurse's desk lay on the far side, scattered messily with papers and other tools. In the middle of the room rested a small, hospital bed. The young light-blue squirrel was sitting on top of it, her legs swinging over the side as she was looking down at her feet, politely waiting.

"She just woke up a few moments ago and she's feeling fine." The nurse quickly informed the three. "We might have to keep her here for the night in case she has caught anything or there's something we might have missed when running the tests, but she should be okay. You three can talk to her if you want now. I'll be right outside if you need me." With that, the nurse gave a pleasant nod to them and briskly left the room.

As the door gently closed shut, there was a moment or two of awkward silence between the four of them.

"So.. umm.. hi! What's your name?" Collin was the first to speak up, breaking the silence.

"Hope.." The squirrel courteously replied, still looking down at the ground.

"That's a really pretty name.." Cosmo complemented, drawing a small smile from the squirrel.

"Thank you.. my mother gave it to me before she passed away…" Hope softly answered sighing.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.." Tails kindly apologized, his expression softening.

Hope finally looked up at him and managed a small smile. "It's okay, it happened a long time ago anyways." She let out another soft sigh. "Thank you all for saving me by the way, I'm indebted to you all.."

Collin grinned. "Well we weren't about to leave a pretty girl like you lying in the middle of the road.."

"Thanks.." Hope mumbled, blushing slightly before staring down at the ground again.

"Well I'm Tails," Tails responded, introducing himself. "And this is Cosmo and Collin.."

Hope smiled and shyly mumbled a quick "hello", acknowledging the rest of them with a nod.

"Can I ask you a question? Do you mind?" Tails suddenly asked.

Hope shook her head. "Nope, not at all!" She kindly replied.

"What were you doing before you passed out like that? What happened?" Tails asked curiously, trying to figure out what could have been the cause of Hope's situation.

"Hmm.." Hope looked up thoughtfully, trying to remember. "I remember I was chasing after something, but I must have lost track of time before I passed out…"

"Do you have any parents or relatives?" Collin piped up.

Hope shook her head. "No.. Ever since the blizzard, I've been having to fend for myself in the cold."

Cosmo gasped. "That's terrible! You mean to say you've been outside this entire time!"

Hope slowly nodded to the horror of the other three.

"Well that definitely explains why you must have passed out. If you expose yourself to extremely cold temperatures, your body starts to function more slowly and without proper treatment, you could get dehydrated or even worse, hypothermia." Tails explained.

"Well I'm glad we found you before anything like that happened!" Collin exclaimed worriedly.

"It's alright. I'm used to the cold anyways.." Hope replied quietly.

Tails shook his head. "Still... If you don't have any parents or relatives, why don't you stay with us once you get cleared to leave the hospital by the doctors?"

Hope vigorously shook her head. "No, I couldn't. I wouldn't want to burden you—"

Cosmo smiled. "You wouldn't. We've all had to face with losing parents before, and we all know how it feels."

"You wouldn't be a burden at all!" Tails answered, smiling.

Hope sighed. "Still, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be alright; I've been doing well by myself so far anyways."

"And is that why we found you lying in the middle of the road?" Collin asked, smirking.

"Well.." Hope started, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"At least you could accompany us! We're going to fight Eggman once you're all better!" Collin replied cheerfully.

"Wait, you mean you're going to fight Eggman? Like, as in the army?" Hope suddenly asked, seemingly surprised.

Collin nodded slowly. "Why? What is it?"

"Oh, um..." Hope trailed off. "It's nothing..." She sighed thoughtfully.

Tails frowned, puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"Well… umm..." Hope let out a long, quiet sigh. "Oh alright it's just when I was chasing this certain something, it mentioned an army at one point.."

"Really? What did it look like?" Tails asked, suddenly curious of where this was headed.

"I don't know. It's hard to describe it other than the fact that it's a red colored robot that sort of looks like a fox…"

"Metal Raymond?" Tails asked, now intrigued.

"Hmm? Excuse me?" Hope asked blankly.

"Oh, never mind. It's nothing." Tails shook his head absentmindedly.

"Why were you chasing it in the first place?" Collin asked the blue squirrel.

"Well... I had found this really shiny gem hidden in the snow, but the robot came up and snatched it away from me."

"You found a chaos emerald? And Metal Raymond took it? Wow, I'm really starting to get suspicious of what Eggman is really up to.." Tails muttered warily. "I've got to call Sonic and tell him everything if you don't mind." He hurriedly said before he and Cosmo left the room, leaving Collin and Hope behind in slight confusion.

"So… umm… How are you feeling?" Collin asked shyly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tails speaking into his com-link headset, undoubtedly telling Sonic everything.

"I'm feeling good, thank you." Hope replied softly, smiling, brining Collin back to the moment.

"Oh, well, that's good to hear…" Collin said, smiling back.

"Mhmm…" Hope agreed, slowly nodding. She trailed off as the two of them suddenly made eye contact, blushed, and quickly looked in opposite directions, an awkward tension growing.

Suddenly at that moment while trying to continue their conversation, Collin remembered about the knife he had taken from Hope.

"What's this?" Collin asked, whipping out the knife he had found hidden in Hope's back pocket and dangling it in front of her widened eyes.

Hope gasped, and tried to snatch it away from Collin. "Give me that! It's none of your business!" She made an attempt to grab it, but Collin was too quick for her, pulling his hand back just in time.

"I've seen this before. It isn't yours, is it?" Collin asked suspiciously, turning the knife around in the dim light, watching it gleam brightly. He inspected the dark blue color, which seemed to swirl around and around formlessly.

Hope sighed. "No, it's not. It's my brother Harper's. He gave it to me before he left to join the army…"

"He just left you alone like that?" Collin asked in shock. "And I thought you said you didn't have any relatives!"

"Sorry, I lied…" Hope apologized. " But my brother and I don't get along very well after our parents died, so we generally avoid and try not to associate ourselves with each other." Hope explained.

"Oh…" Collin softly said, speechless.

"And he left for the army because he didn't want to have to bear the responsibility of having to take care of me… Besides, he knew I could handle myself…" Hope said.

"If we hadn't found you, you could have been in a much worse condition! The nurse even said so!" Collin exclaimed.

Hope let out a long sigh and remained silent, looking at the ground in shame.

Collin also sighed. "I'm sorry." He finally said.

"For what?" Hope asked, confused.

"I shouldn't have tried to pester you with all these questions. I should probably leave now." Collin slowly got up to leave, turning his back to Hope.

"Wait, please don't…" Hope softly called after him, reaching out with one hand and gently touching him on the shoulder.

"Why? The nurse said we should take it easy on you before you're fully recovered." Collin replied sympathetically.

"I AM fully recovered. Besides, I want you to stay here with me…"

"Are you sure? I've been told I'm a bit of a nuisance sometimes…" Collin answered forlornly.

"I don't think it's true. You're the only person that's cared about me like this. Thank you… Collin…" Hope blushed, softly smiling.

"No problem… Hope…" Collin replied, also slightly blushing, turning back around again.

It was at that moment that Tails and Cosmo came back in the room.

"I've told Sonic about Metal Raymond supposedly collecting chaos emeralds and bringing them to Eggman." Tails briefly told Collin. "We're to stay put until he calls us and tells us what to do, so it looks like we won't be doing anything anytime soon."

"We're going to spending the night around here?" Collin asked in wonder. He yawned, stretching his arms out wide. "Man.. I'm really tired though…" He muttered under his breath.

"Looks like it. Cosmo and I are going upstairs to where the hospital has kindly prepared a couple of bedrooms for us. Coming?" Tails kindly asked.

But Collin had already drifted off to sleep at the foot of the hospital bed, curled up and snoring peacefully.

"Oh great. What should we do now..?" Tails wondered out loud, grinning slightly.

"I'll look after him, don't worry." Hope suddenly spoke up, surprising Tails.

"Umm, if you want I guess… Thank you!" Tails thanked her gratefully.

"No problem… It's the least I could do anyways…" Hope smiled softly.

"Goodnight! Take care!" Cosmo cheerfully called out before she and Tails left to go to their room.

Hope made ready to sleep as well, but as she lay down, she caught Collin sleeping out of the corner of her eye.

"He looks so peaceful… and cute…" Hope suddenly thought, blushing. "And I hope he's not cold…" She thought she saw Collin shiver slightly, but maybe that was her imagination.

"Oh well, better safe than sorry anyways…" Hope sighed and carefully slid off her bed, lying down on the cold, hard floor. She curled up next to Collin, also falling asleep with her tail wrapped cozily wrapped around him, a peaceful smile etching itself onto her soft facial features...


	10. Chapter 10

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 9

7:04 pm

Eggman's base

Raymond wasn't sure when he first started to notice it, but…

…the instant he woke up to find himself captive in a glass containment cell, he knew something wasn't right. For starters, he instantly noticed that there was no agonizing pain tearing up his leg. As Raymond looked down to inspect it, he found that the previous wound had completely and mysteriously vanished; the smooth skin untainted and wholesome. It was as if the severe gash had never really occurred; just his minds playing tricks upon his body. Completely in surprise and awe, Raymond also noticed that he wasn't the only one in the room; looking up to confront his foe.

"Eggman? Eggman!" Raymond pounded one fist on the side of the transparent glass wall, glaring furiously at the fat scientist on the other side of the room. "What's the meaning of this?"

"…" However, Eggman simply cast an apathetic look over one shoulder, and continued minding his own business. The antagonist scientist was seated near what appeared to be a strange looking machine of sorts, bizarre figures and symbols occasionally zipping past the screen monitor. Directly across the room, Raymond could see the door from whence he came. And opposite of that was a flight of stairs, leading down into darkness…

"Eggman!" Raymond shouted again in vain, his voice heavily muffled by the glass walls. He drew back an arm in an attempt to break the cell walls when…

Suddenly, a red figure swooped out of nowhere and landed gracefully on all fours right in front of Raymond's cell.

"We'll have none of that, you hear me?" Metal Raymond scowled threateningly, yet kept its voice down to a minimal hiss. "Or if you don't want to cooperate, I'm sure I can find… other… ways to make sure you shut up!"

Raymond just glowered back at his metallic counterpart, temporarily taking a step back. He knew the best thing to do at the moment was just wait and watch everything unfold. Maybe in the near future, however, if he was opportunistic and cautious enough, then he might just have a chance… But for now, maybe he could seek out some answers.

"So… I'm still in the dark. I don't get it, what's going on?" Raymond tried to keep his voice relatively casual.

Eggman didn't answer, keeping his back still turned to Raymond.

"Eggman…?"

WHACK! Metal Raymond pounded the side of the cell with one of his swords, causing the air inside to vibrate.

"Silence! The doctor needs some peace and quiet, so I suggest you shut up before I make you!" Metal Raymond harshly commanded, leering contemptuously.

Raymond glared rebelliously. "I swear, once I get out of here…" he muttered under his breath. However, he immediately stopped talking when all of a sudden, he picked up a faint noise.

"Raymond…?"

At that moment, Raymond would have burst out shouting if Metal Raymond wasn't glaring at him through the thin, glass wall. Eggman, also hearing Raymond's name being called in the distance, turned around and have Metal Raymond a quick nod.

"You know what to do… Deal with him quickly, we don't have much time left." Eggman commanded as Metal Raymond gave a curt nod back and quickly rushed out of the room to deal with the blue hedgehog. As the automated doors slid shut behind him, and Eggman turned back to his computer, suddenly, Raymond whipped one of his metallic wrist bands and smashed it against the side of the containment walls, shattering it with a loud crash.

Before Eggman had another chance to turn around, Raymond was already at his back, holding his mechanical wrist bands at Eggman's unprotected head.

"Don't move or else I shoot." Raymond forcefully commanded, as Eggman remained stock still. "Tell me what's going on. What's the meaning behind everything you've done so far? I would have just chalked it up to a maniacal, mad scientist's dream of world domination, but for something a close friend told me not too long ago. She seemed to have a suspicion that you were up to something far bigger. Somehow, the puzzle pieces didn't fit. What's really going on?"

Eggman merely started to laugh, cackling, despite the fact Raymond was holding the scientist at gunpoint. "Hahaha! Maybe I AM up to something far greater than you would ever imagine! But you're TOO late, once again!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Raymond held his metallic wrist band closer to Eggman's head.

"Well… I guess it's no use hiding it from you now.." Eggman slyly grinned, a victorious smug spreading across his facial features. "Remember after that failed attack on Mobius City?"

"Yeah… why?" Raymond asked, curious.

"Well… upon returning to my base, I happened to find something VERY interesting along the way…" Eggman deviously responded with a slight smirk.

"What?" Raymond asked.

"A chaos emerald," Eggman replied. "I hadn't seen one since the last time I had gone into space with Sonic and his friends, and yet there was one lying in the middle of a grassy field, out in the open!"

"So, what does this mean?" Raymond was a bit puzzled, drawing back his hand a bit.

"Well, first of all, remember the time I froze you, claiming to have found your weakness?" Eggman asked again.

"Yeah…" Raymond trailed off in thought.

"Well, the idea was still fresh in my mind at the time. I had to rush back to the lab to do some experiments on the full capacity of the chaos emeralds to test how much power they contained in the elemental perspective." Eggman explained as a matter-of-factly.

"Wait… 'elemental' perspective…? YOU caused the blizzard?" Raymond wondered out loud.

"That's correct." Eggman briskly replied. "And after seeing their maximum power, I simply had to find the rest, since I was sure some of them had also found their way across the land of Mobius."

"That's what Metal Raymond was for…" Raymond deciphered thoughtfully.

"Right again. Now, do you happen to remember E-101?" Eggman asked.

"Yeah… wait a second…" Raymond tried to recall the battle that had seemed to happen so long ago, even though it couldn't have been more than a few weeks.

"Watch this." Eggman hit a key on the keyboard, and immediately, videos of their recent battles popped up. The scientist hit another key, and videos from past battles when Raymond wasn't around appeared. Suddenly, Eggman hit another key, and a data table appeared, seemingly calculating data from the battles and entering it onto a simulator, determining something… On another corner of the screen, a loading bar was slowly transferring the data through a wire, which hooked around the back of the computer and trailed down to the far corner down the stairs into the basement…

Something seemed to click in Raymond's head. "Wait a second… don't tell me…"

Eggman nodded, and looked over at the stairs in the corner that led down to the basement, just as the loading bar reached 100 percent. "I suggest you run quickly, Raymond…"

That was the last thing Raymond heard before he sprinted out of the room at full speed, as if something was on his trail. Something far more destructive than world domination.

Downstairs…

A dark-gray colored raccoon was prowling around the shadows, imitating gestures as if he were shooting fake robots that jumped out at every corner he turned.

"Pow! Pow!" Finnegan threw one of his gleaming ninja stars at a wall, hearing the satisfying thud as the metal easily clove through the stainless steel. "Capt'n Finnegan… On a mission to save the world…" He muttered to himself, ducking and weaving around as he pretended to take out more fake enemies. Nearby, the rest of his comrades were on guard, keeping a wary eye for any sort of resistance that might be hurtling down the hallway at full speed towards them. But everything had been relatively silent since Raymond had taken out the scorpion robots back outside. Maybe that was all of them anyways…

Who was she anyways? Finnegan tried to remember the name of the white colored bat that had stayed by the Mobius Army after Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, and Cream had left. She had stuck around a while, before excusing herself to follow after the others upstairs. The bat had told the rest of them to wait here while she went to help the rest. So with nothing better to do, Finnegan emptied more ninja stars into the wall, keeping himself occupied.

"Hey, Finnegan! Watch it!" Finnegan accidentally slipped and misfired on a throw as one of his ninja stars barely grazed the shoulder of his friend, Harper, nearly drawing blood as it disappeared down the hallway.

"Whoops. My bad." Finnegan apologized before looking longingly down the dark hallway. He was specifically told to wait here. But he could faintly make out the familiar gleam of his weapon in the distance. All Finnegan had to do was run down, grab it, and quickly run back.

Harper seemed to notice what Finnegan was up to. "Don't even think about it… You know what they told us… Follow orders for once!" But his advice was in vain as Finnegan recklessly abandoned his post and scurried down the dark hallway.

"Don't worry! I got it!" Finnegan ran the last few yards and stooped over to pick up the ninja star, turning his back to the rest of the darkness while he waved victoriously towards his friend. "See? I told you nothing would happen anyways!"

CLANG!

Suddenly, the familiar resounding of metal on metal sounded as a scorpion robot appeared right behind Finnegan, baring its claws wide open.

Harper's eyes shot wide open. "Look out!" Was all he had time to say before the scorpion swung, clipping Finnegan upside the shoulder and sending him flying into the wall.

"Oof!" Finnegan hit the ground hard while more and more scorpions suddenly seemed to amass out of nowhere from every angle, blocking the routes of escaping. The only way to retreat would be the stairs that led up…

"Fall back!" Harper shouted to the army, temporarily taking command as Finnegan recovered himself and rushed back, sliding like a baseball runner stealing second base.

"Nice one.." Harper muttered sarcastically as the Mobius Army, jolted from the initial element of surprise, formed a formidable wall, arms at the ready. But the scorpions didn't open fire yet, and neither did the Mobius Army. It was a tense stand-off, but why were the scorpions just waiting like that? It wasn't like they had anything to lose anyways… Were they waiting for something to happen?

"What's going on?" Harper asked as Finnegan retrieved the last of his ninja stars, indicating towards the hostile, but not quiet belligerent scorpions.

"I don't know… But whatever it is, I don't like it. Wait and see what happens… I don't think we want a conflict with them at the moment…" Finnegan muttered under his breath.

"I don't like the way they're blocking the exits…" Harper replied. "Maybe they're doing it on purpose so we can't escape…" He reasoned, aware of the fact that more scorpions were pouring in.

"I just hope whatever the rest of Sonic and his friends are doing, they'd better do it fast!" Finnegan countered as the stand-off between the two armies continued.

Upstairs…

Rogue the bat was flying around the dark corridors, desperately looking for Eggman after abandoning the Mobius Army. But she didn't have the same objective as the rest of her so called "friends" did, not wanting to defeat Eggman. Instead, there was a different reason why she wanted to meet the fat scientist.

"Eggman!" Rogue skidded to a stop as she noticed Eggman sitting at his desk, in front of his computer. "I did what you asked! I managed to dupe the Mobius Army into staying put inside, and now they're trapped, leaving the exits free."

Eggman, sitting nonchalantly at his computer after Raymond had fled the room just moments ago, seemed rather surprised to see the bat, given the moment. "Did you? Well well… I have to say, I'm rather impressed!" A grin started to etch itself upon his face.

"Yeah yeah," Rogue rolled her eyes and shrugged it off. "Now just hand over the chaos emerald like you said you would."

"Well…" Here, Eggman stopped. "Unfortunately I have a little… problem… about that matter…"

Rogue scowled. "What is it this time?"

"Ah yes.. well.. you see… I had to… use… the chaos emeralds in order for my plan to work. So you see, I don't have any to give you…" A bead of sweat trickled down the back of the scientist's head.

"WHAT?" Rogue exclaimed. "I THOUGHT WE HAD A DEAL!"

"Ah yes… well.. things haven't quite turned out the way I was expecting… so.. err.. gotta run!" And with that, Eggman dashed out of the room, leaving a simmering Rogue behind.

"Ooh that Eggman… I KNEW I couldn't trust him!" She proclaimed as a noise emanated from downstairs, causing her to jump.

"Well, if what he said is true, I better run as well…" Rogue muttered as she fled out of the room, just as the walls and ceiling started to crack and crumble.

Meanwhile…

"Raymond!" Sonic shouted, rushing through every floor of Eggman's huge base, but making sure to methodically check each room. "Where are you?"

Next to Sonic, trying their best to keep up, Galaxina and Amy also called out Raymond's name, hoping to find him quickly. Already, the three of them had noticed the ceiling start to give way; little chunks of metal and debris starting to rain down as for some reason, the ground started shaking as if an earthquake was occurring.

"Aah!" Galaxina screamed as a large chunk of metal fell right at the spot she was standing. Yet, Sonic came to rescue just in time, pushing her out of the way as the metal chunk harmlessly clattered to the ground.

"T-Thanks…" She thanked Sonic gratefully, staggering to get back up as the ground shook even more.

"Don't mention it! But make sure not to hurt yourself…" Sonic replied as the two of them continued searching around despite the hazardous situation. Not to mention, Sonic suspected Metal Raymond was on the prowl for them, keeping any potential rescuers at bay. Whatever Eggman was up to, it was definitely something serious. But for now, neither of them had encountered Raymond's robotic counterpart…

"Amy!" Sonic suddenly shouted, realizing they had lost track of the pink hedgehog. She had been right behind them just a few moments ago. Where was she? Sonic turned around to try to look for Amy, but it was near impossible to see anything through the magnitude of dust that was swirling around in the air.

Galaxina wasn't faring too well, coughing repeatedly as the dust made her eyes burn and her throat feel dry. Instantly, Sonic was at her side, holding a stray piece of cloth he had found to her mouth.

"Wait here," Sonic gently commanded Galaxina as she wordlessly nodded agreement. "I need to go ahead and find Raymond before it's too late. If Amy comes your way, then make sure she also waits here with you. I don't want to risk anyone's lives, so make sure you stay safe."

And with that, the blue hedgehog flashed off into the distance, leaving Galaxina behind, hoping that somehow, miraculously, their second venture into Eggman's base would turn out as successful as the first despite the amount of chaos that reigned throughout the fortress.


	11. Chapter 11

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 10

7:47 pm

Eggman's base:

"Sonic? Sooonic!" Amy called out in desperation, hoping that the blue hedgehog was somewhere nearby. She fearfully, yet nimbly jumped past falling chunks of debris, struggling to tread up the stairs she was currently climbing. "Where are youu..?" Amy called out again, cupping both hands around her mouth.

Yet no reply reached the ears of the pink hedgehog, leaving her with the feeling of helplessness and confusion. Just moments ago, she had been trailing Sonic and Galaxina, until the earthquake shook Eggman's base from top to bottom, dislodging what seemed like billions of bricks and scrap metal. As Amy finally reached the top of the steps, she proceeded to duck into a small corner, catching a temporarily break as she leaned over and rested, placing both hands on her knees and panting heavily.

"Ooh… There's no telling where everyone is through these conditions now…" Amy griped, aware of the fact that any minute now, the base could come tumbling down. "At least there's not as much as before…" She sighed, trying her best to peer through the haze.

As the falling of debris slowly fell to a decrescendo, Amy could see the destruction and the havoc the initial earthquake had caused. There were holes in the ceiling and floor where solid bricks used to be, and a light brown fog swirled around the air as a result of the dust fumes, making navigating through the base even harder and much more treacherous.

Amy chanced a peek out from her safe haven, having to blink her eyes several times as the dust made her eyes sting.

"I don't even know what's left of everyone after all that… But I'm sure they're alright." Amy reassured herself under her breath, taking a cautious step forwards onto what seemed like a solid brick.

Her foot touched the surface, which didn't give way under pressure, and she shifted her weight there while keeping her balance, scuttling around the edges once she passed. Amy didn't trust the footing of the middle of the hallway anymore, preferring to keep close to the walls where she knew the ground would be much more solid and reliable. As the dust started to clear away, settling on Amy's red dress, she made a face and tried to brush it off.

"Ooh.. I'm going to take a nice, long, hot shower after this is over! And then forget about Eggman for the rest of my life!" Amy declared indignantly.

Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps nearby, signaling the presence of another individual. As Amy nimbly hopped from the edge to a sturdy-looking platform, she assumed it to be one of the Sonic gang, probably looking for her after she was separated.

"Hello?" Amy called out into the fog. "I-Is anyone there?"

Again, no reply met her ears except for the monotonous, slow footsteps that echoed off of the metal walls. A dim light suddenly flickered on overhead, lighting up the dusty haze, revealing a moving shadow a distance away from Amy.

"S-Sonic?" Amy asked, wondering why the figure didn't respond back. Just in case, she tightened her grip on her piko-piko hammer, feeling its smooth handle give her confidence again. "Is that you..?"

The dark figure suddenly took another step forwards as the dim light fell upon its features… Its strikingly similar, metallic features…

"Ahh!" Amy swung her piko-piko hammer at full force, hoping to catch a glancing blow into the body of Metal Raymond. The robot sidestepped, dodging the blow as Amy recovered and rose into a fighting stance.

"What are YOU doing here, you little creep?" Amy contemptuously spat, eyes alight with fury. Finally, something to take all her day's anger and frustration at Eggman out on…

"Do you know where someone by the name of Sonic is?" Metal Raymond stoically asked, crossing its arms, not intimidated by Amy's aggressive pose.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" Amy shouted back, protective of her self-proclaimed boyfriend. In her mind though, she fearfully wondered where Sonic was as well.

"Fine!" Metal Raymond spat out. "I guess I'll just have to use you as bait to lure him!" It snarled, throwing a punch directly at Amy's face. However, she caught Metal Raymond's fist on the edge of her hammer, deflecting the blow. As the two combatants drew back, Amy countered with her own blow.

"Take that you slimeball!" Amy jumped up into the air, raising her piko-piko hammer over her head. She brought it crashing down at full force, missing Metal Raymond as it jumped away, obviously rattled by Amy's intensity and furiousness.

"Hmm… it seems like I have grossly underestimated you…" Metal Raymond pondered as Amy's hammer came into contact with the solid ground, stunning her hands and wrists from the impact. "But time is ticking, so I might as well end this quickly now." The robot nonchalantly decided.

As Amy tried to recover herself and picked up her hammer, Metal Raymond spun around and kicked the hammer back out of her hands. Amy tumbled backwards as Metal Raymond shoved her roughly, tripping and falling onto the cold ground.

As Metal Raymond readied to deal another blow to a defenseless Amy, she shouted at the top of her lungs. "SONICCC!"

Instantly, a blue flash zigzagged from around the corner behind Amy, and hit Metal Raymond at full speed. Metal Raymond flew into the wall, pounding a hole into it, while Sonic deftly jumped and landed on all fours, looking back to see if Amy was alright.

"Ames! Are you alright?" Sonic hesitantly asked the pink hedgehog.

"SONIC!" Amy picked herself up and ran over, giving the blue hedgehog a colossal hug. "I KNEW you would save me!"

"Err.." Sonic nervously smiled, cringing. "Of course I would…"

As Amy broke away from the hug, she asked. "Where were you? I called out your name several times, but you didn't answer before…"

"I think you might have passed us after the bricks started to fall down from the ceiling," Sonic tried to explain to a distressed Amy. "I told Galaxina to wait for you in case you were behind, and ran up ahead." Sonic replied, suddenly remembering something.

"Galaxina!" Sonic's heart dropped. Was she okay? He turned to Amy, deciding to ask her a favor. "Can you go back and see if Galaxina is alright? I still need to go ahead and search for Raymond, wherever he is…"

"Sure," Amy relented, "But be careful!" She gave him a quick hug, and bounded back the way she and Sonic had came. As Sonic looked after the fading, pink hedgehog, his thoughts were interrupted when the sound of rubble hitting the ground met his sharp ears.

"Huh?" Sonic snapped his head back as Metal Raymond emerged from the hole, seemingly unharmed. "You!" Sonic growled as his foe.

"Ah, I'm glad we meet again, Sonic the hedgehog!" Metal Raymond hissed, glad that it had finally found its primary target.

"You haven't met me yet! You obviously don't know who you're dealing with!" Sonic taunted, finally glad that the dust had settled. He took a few steps back as Metal Raymond pried itself from the wall.

"Oh? Confident are we?" Metal Raymond mocked. "Looks like we'll just have to introduce ourselves to each other again!"

"Yeah, let's!" Sonic shouted, spin-dashing right in the direction of Metal Raymond. However, it was accustomed to these attacks by now, and easily dodged the onslaught as Sonic harmlessly sped past.

"Can't you do any better than that?" Metal Raymond jeered. "It's getting rather boring quickly…"

"Yeah? Watch this!" In response, Sonic spun around and spin-dashed right at Metal Raymond again. However, as Metal Raymond sidestepped once more, Sonic threw his legs out, catching Metal Raymond by the chest. With no more forward momentum, Sonic dropped to the ground as Metal Raymond stumbled backwards from the blow, surprised.

Sonic quickly picked himself up as Metal Raymond recovered, and the two ran at each other at full speed. As the two almost made contact, Sonic dropped to the ground again, sliding like a baseball player. He caught Metal Raymond's feet, tripping it. The robot's feet were swept out from under it, starting a midair somersault due to forward momentum. As Sonic slid to the other side of the room, he looked back to see Metal Raymond land hard on its back.

But before Sonic could congratulate himself, Metal Raymond was up and running again, this time with its face full of fury. Sonic barely had time to jump out of the way as Metal Raymond's fist swung only mere millimeters away from his head. As the blue hedgehog jumped away, the robot ran after him, the two colliding together.

Metal Raymond reached out, managing to grab Sonic in a vise-like grip by his shoulder. Sonic struggled to break free, but Metal Raymond simply brought Sonic up, and flung him to the wall. As Sonic hit the wall, Metal Raymond was already there, delivering another punishing blow to his stomach.

Sonic fell to the floor, dazed, as Metal Raymond towered over the fallen hedgehog, taking the time to pick him up by his throat, lift him off of the ground, and start to slowly choke him.

"Y-You'll…. Never… defeat…. Us!" Sonic choked out, struggling to break free again. Yet Metal Raymond's grasp was too strong, and Sonic was too worn out to fight. He could slowly feel the air being drained out of his body like his life…

"Hey, over here!" Metal Raymond turned its head to be introduced to Raymond's fist. As Metal Raymond was knocked over, Sonic broke free, gasping for air on all fours.

"You alright?" Raymond asked Sonic in concern, seemingly having come out of nowhere.

"You… *pant* alive… *cough*" Sonic choked out, trying to massage his throbbing neck.

"Of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?" Raymond asked, confused, noticing the bad condition Sonic was in. "You should get back down to where everyone is to get medical attention. And you should also tell everyone the base could come down any moment so that we can all evacuate the area. It's too dangerous to continue attacking Eggamn!"

"W-What about y-you? I-I was supposed to f-find you!" Sonic spat out, worried for the safety of his friend.

"I'll be alright, don't worry. This one is personal anyways." Raymond reassured Sonic as the blue hedgehog nodded thanks and sped off to gather his friends away from Eggman's base. As Sonic left, Metal Raymond picked itself up, seething.

"Do you REALLY have the nerve to face me? How on earth do YOU expect to defeat me?" Metal Raymond demanded, scowling.

"Uh, easy," Raymond simply replied. "By not fighting you in the first place!" And with that, Raymond bounded after the direction Sonic had taken, aware of the fact that every second they stayed in Eggman's base decreased their chances of survival.

Raymond's fleeting form disappeared down the flight of stairs as Metal Raymond, making to go after his counterpart, received a call from Eggman.

"Metal Raymond? Are you listening?" Eggman's voice crackled through the com-link device on Metal Raymond's wrist.

"Yes boss…" Metal Raymond was still seething after letting Sonic and Raymond escape.

"Good. Did you find Sonic or Raymond yet?" Eggman asked.

"Bad news, they've managed to escape…" Metal Raymond muttered.

"Oh, that's fine. E-101 will make quick work of them anyways. What I want you to do is report to me immediately. As you may have noticed, this base is not going to hold much weight any longer, and we need to evacuate to a more, secure location at once!"

"Yes boss…" Metal Raymond shut off the link, staring down the stairs still.

"Yes, that's right; you heard Eggman… You had better run before our "little" friend hunts you down…" Metal Raymond cynically spoke, pausing just long enough, and then turning away to report to Eggman.

Downstairs…

A red-colored echidna was unsuccessfully trying to barrel his way up the staircase, despite the amount of debris that was blocking the way.

"Any... Minute… Now... There!" Knuckles victoriously crowed as he managed to pound a rather large boulder into a vapor of dust. "Hah! You're no match for the mighty Knuckles!" He proclaimed, taking a quick break to wipe his brow with the back of his fist.

"Err…" Cream fidgeted uncomfortably nearby; Cheese resting on her shoulder. "Don't you think it's going to take a while to break through all that?" She innocently asked, indicating at the remaining pile of debris.

"Too much? For me? Nonsense…!" Knuckles panted, trying to reclaim his composure. "We'll be out of here in no time!" He proceeded to turn his attention to the next boulder that obstructed his path.

"Umm... if you say so…" Cream hesitantly relented, sitting down on the windowsill and watching Knuckles uselessly waste his energy.

"Damn you Sonic…" Knuckles muttered to himself as he continued relentlessly pounding away at the boulder. At that exact instant, the wall on the right of Knuckles seemed to explode; bricks and debris flying everywhere as a blur of blue zoomed past a discombobulated Knuckles.

"DAMN YOU SONIC!" Knuckles repeated again, this time at the top of his lungs as he was sent flying into the very pile of debris he had been trying to break through. Sonic, meanwhile, halted.

"Did you hear something?" He casually asked Cream, and proceeded to wipe his ears from the dust.

Cream blinked. "I think you just killed Mister Knuckles."She informed an indifferent Sonic.

Sonic also blinked. "Knuckles was here?" At the same time from the hole Sonic had just created, Amy and Galaxina came rushing into the hallway.

"Hey Cream! I'm glad to see you're alright!" Amy caringly stated, giving the cream-colored bunny a gentle pat on the shoulder.

Cream smiled. "Don't worry, Mister Knuckles helped protect me!" She stated pleasantly.

"Speaking of which, where is that dummy?" Amy asked inquisitively, a frown reaching her face.

In response to her question, a mountain of debris started to shift, and collapse upon itself as Knuckles slowly emerged from the rubble.

"WHY? WHY ME?" Knuckles proclaimed to the heavens, raising his hands in a gesture of indignant innocence.

"Uh guys," Sonic pointed at a crazed Knuckles. "I think we should just leave him alone…" He stated, worried for the sanity of his companion.

"I can set his mind straight if you'd like," Amy suggested, drawing her piko-piko hammer out. "A little swing can go a long way into helping—"

"Er, I don't think that would be a smart idea actually." Sonic said as he tried to prevent Amy from hitting Knuckles on the head with her hammer. As he did so, Galaxina carefully made her way over to Sonic, wearing a worried expression.

"Did you find Raymond? Is he alright?" Galaxina asked hesitantly and fearfully.

Hearing her, Sonic paused long enough to choose his words carefully. "I believe the last thing he said to me was—".

"—That I'd be alright. Hey guys, miss me?" Raymond asked and grinned, climbing through the hole Sonic had created.

Suddenly, he was enveloped by a warm pair of hands around his body, and the slight pressure of Galaxina's head against his furry chest.

"Err… I missed you too…" Raymond softly confessed, blushing. "I'm sorry…" He hesitantly apologized.

Looking back up at Raymond, smiling as well, Galaxina softly replied back. "It's alright. We're back together, and that's all that matters…" She said, forgetting about everything wrong Raymond had done, and trying to remember why she loved him so much.

As the two hugged again, Amy managed a smile.

"Aww…" She whispered under her breath. "Why can't you be like that?" She turned on Sonic, who was edging away.

"Well... you know… now is not the time to be thinking about that!" Sonic exclaimed nervously.

"Sonic's right; we have to move fast if we want to stand a chance on getting out safely!" Knuckles admitted, crossing his arms. He gave Sonic a brief nod as the two started calculating on possible routes to safety.

"That reminds me, what about the Mobius Army?" Raymond asked, temporarily breaking away from Galaxina's embrace. "Where are they at the moment?"

In response, Sonic wordlessly turned to look at Knuckles.

"Hey!" Knuckles uttered innocently. "Don't look at me!"

"I thought you were the last to leave them," Sonic explained. "Are they still in the base?"

"I just told them to stay put and stay out of trouble…." Knuckles muttered, suddenly becoming interested in his shoes.

"Ah, never mind. We'll just head back towards the entrance, gather them, and head on out." Sonic explained his escape plan. "If we move now, we'll be able to clear the area without much trouble."

"So let's do it then!" Amy exclaimed, urging everyone to start heading back the way they came from. As the group started to run for safety, Knuckles suddenly remembered something.

"Wait!" Knuckles shouted, hesitating behind the others. As the group stopped, and looked back at Knuckles in confusion, he went on to explain. "Where's Rogue?" He asked worriedly.

"I didn't know you cared about her," Sonic pointed out with a hint of a smirk on his face.

Knuckles pouted. "I don't! I just… don't want anyone to get trapped in here! Because that would be awful! Although on second thought, she IS a bat…"

"At any rate, we don't have the time! Now let's go!" Sonic hurriedly shouted as the group continued their pace on towards the entrance of Eggman's base. As the ground started to tremble beneath their feet, and the walls seemed to close in on them, a huge explosion ripped through the hallway and threw everyone off of their feet, dazed.

Then, the floors seemed to open up, and everyone was sent falling down through the darkness; into the abyss.


	12. Chapter 12

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 11

Underground Eggman's Base

Sonic warily lifted his head, and slowly stood up, groaning to himself, shrugging off a few chunks of debris as he looked around the dim basement. In doing so, he spied Amy, Knuckles, Cream, Raymond and Galaxina not too far away, each of them wearing an expression of confusion and disbelief.

"Sonic…" He faintly heard Raymond call over. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Never better!" Sonic lied, groaning to himself again. He chanced a look up, staring in awe at the distance in which they had fallen. Not enough to kill anyone, but they were all extremely lucky no one had gotten seriously injured or even mildly hurt. The small pinnacle of light up above was the only thing lighting the interior of the dark room they happened to be in.

As Sonic made his way over to the group, taking care not to trip over anything, Knuckles spoke up. "Where are we?" Knuckles asked in utter perplexity, a bit dazed from the fall. Next to him, Amy shrugged, and plainly replied. "I'm sure Sonic'll be able to get us out of here, right?" She glanced at him pointedly.

Sonic on the other hand, wasn't paying attention, lost in his own thoughts. "I wonder if Eggman has anything to do with this…" He muttered to himself, seemingly forgetting the others at the moment.

"This doesn't look good…" Raymond grimaced, picking himself up, though it was hard to tell through the pitch black. The only way Sonic could tell everyone apart was the basic silhouette of their bodies and the general direction the seemingly disembodied voices were coming from.

"Well whatever happens, we need to stick together," Sonic stated firmly. "I don't like the looks of this either."

"Me neither! This is scary..!" Cream shivered, clutching Cheese fearfully and protectively as it squeaked in agreement and covered its eyes.

"If only I were back on Angel Island…" Knuckles reminisced distantly. "Alone… Undisturbed… Protecting the Master Emerald valiantly…"

"No wonder you're such a loser," Amy retorted sadistically.

"Hey, cut it out!" Sonic ordered. "We've got enough on our hands without you two adding to it!"

"Sonic's right, if Eggman is really behind this, then we need to get out of here as quickly as possible." Raymond agreed thoughtfully.

"Well, I don't think we'll be coming out the way we came from…" Knuckles pointed out, gazing up at the small rectangle of light that shone above them.

"Yeah, we need a plan B." Sonic agreed, looking around for a possible solution.

"Maybe Knuckles could tunnel us out," Galaxina quietly suggested, nervously looking from side to side.

Sonic slowly nodded agreement, anxious to escape. "That's a good place to start. It looks as if we're underground, so if Knuckles can use his fists to burrow us out of here before Eggman reveals his plan, then we'll be in a position to strike back."

"Hey guys!" Raymond interrupted, his voice floating over across the room. "Look at this!" As the group of friends stumbled their way over to where Raymond was, he pointed at a strange-looking handle resting upon the wall.

"Wonder what this does…" Raymond mumbled, placing a hand on it.

"Don't touch it!" Sonic exclaimed, swatting Raymond's hands away. "It could be a trap!"

"Well, it looks pretty old," Raymond countered, pointing at the rust that was gathering on the metal part of the switch. "I don't think Eggman installed this here recently…"

"Still, I don't think it'd be a good idea to touch it." Sonic declared sharply. "And that's final."

"Okay, just wondering…" Raymond replied innocently.

Sonic turned back to look around for a place Knuckles could possibly burrow them out of. "Anyways, how about we-"

He was cut off when an extremely loud, sharp, grating noise filled the room, causing the gang to jump in surprise. Sonic whipped back around to see the entire wall slowly pull up like it was a garage door, and folded back to reveal a larger extension of the dark room. Sonic looked at Raymond pointedly, crossing his arms.

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't touch anything!" Raymond exclaimed, holding up his hands in a gesture of innocence.

Sonic sighed exasperatedly. "Forget trying to escape; I'm pretty sure Eggman's on his way now anyways."

"Well we can fight him off! It's not like we haven't been in this situation before anyways!" Knuckles exclaimed eagerly, a look of fierceness on his posture.

As if in response to Knuckles, suddenly, a bright light filled the whole room, causing everyone to yelp in pain and shield their eyes. As they excruciatingly and slowly opened their eyes and adjusted to the light, they could see that the place they had been trapped in was just a rather ordinary, large room enclosed by steel walls and floors. The "wall" that had opened up was just a divider between the two halves. The room stretched for about a hundred yards in both directions, and the ceiling was above thirty feet or so high. In seeing the dimensions of the "room", Sonic was even more amazed that they had even survived the fall, now that he thought about it…

All of a sudden, in the middle of the room, a television popped out of nowhere, and a familiar face slowly appeared on the screen.

"Eggman!" Sonic's expression changed from confusion and awe to anger and rage. "What is it now?"

Eggman merely laughed, as the group of friends glared at the monitor screen. "You had better tell us what's going on!" Sonic demanded forcefully, shaking a fist.

"But you already know!" Eggman replied deviously. "It's a wonder why you haven't figured everything out yet!"

"What are you talking about?" Sonic shouted back. "You know, maybe we wouldn't have been so suspicious of what was going on with you if you hadn't had to capture Tails, Cosmo, and Galaxina, and then start that attack against Mobius City! But after you had to draw us into all this, it's high time you explain yourself!"

"And don't forget that awful blizzard…" Raymond added quietly.

Sonic turned his attention away from Eggman long enough to look at Raymond. "What?" He asked in a softer tone of voice.

"Eggman told me about everything," Raymond explained hastily. "I should have told you sooner, I'm sorry."

"No, don't be," Sonic reassured. "What's he up to then?"

Raymond cleared his throat and began to speak. "He says he's found the chaos emeralds all over Mobius after your guys' battle against the Meterex," Raymond explained. "He used Metal Raymond to collect them all, while we were all distracted when we had to rescue Tails, Cosmo, and Galaxina."

"So that was just a decoy?" Sonic asked in consternation.

"Yes, and it was also a way to test another of Eggman's theories." Raymond replied, pointed at the fat scientist. "He's experimented on what he likes to call our "weaknesses", and see if that would work effectively on us. And I guess it worked when he froze me that time, so he basically accomplished two things in one turn of events." Raymond explained to the rest of his friends.

"What about the attack on Mobius City?" Sonic asked attentively.

"Actually, that was a failed move on Eggman at the time," Raymond answered complacently. "He thought we would be busy recovering, and decided to take a risky shot at launching an attack upon the city to take control."

"But it didn't work," Knuckles finished.

"Right," Raymond stated.

"And you said the blizzard was his fault?" Sonic asked, more and more curious of the intricate plans his rival possessed.

"Apparently, there's more to the chaos emeralds than you know," Raymond explained. "Eggman discovered another property, which he likes to call the "elemental" properties. He was testing them previous to the attack, but because it's so uncontrollable and susceptible to change, when Eggman tried to use it against us at some point during the battle, it ended up working, only a day later. And with a very different outcome than Eggman had hoped for, I'm assuming."

"So what has he been doing here this whole time after the attack?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing much," Raymond replied. "In fact, if you remember, the reason you came here was to save me and Galaxina after the ice had started to collapse. And the reason the ice was so dangerous was because Metal Raymond was melting it in order to look for any remaining chaos emeralds that might have been trapped within the ice." He inferred from the given information.

"And why did Eggman attack us on the way to the base, and yet leave so suddenly?" Knuckles asked.

"Oh, I get it!" Sonic suddenly spoke up in place of Raymond. "Metal Raymond had found the last chaos emerald and was trying to get back to the base. We were blocking the way however, so it needed the attack as a temporary distraction to race by us." The blue hedgehog guessed.

"I guess that's right…" Raymond said. "Eggman told me while I was prisoner up there that he was doing some more extensive research upon the possibility of combining the "elemental properties" and the data he observed from obtaining our "weaknesses". It's only by luck we stumbled upon it, and a good thing too. If we hadn't disrupted Eggman's plans, who knows what would have happened had Eggman had the chance to fully develop the potential?"

"So you're saying, Eggman has ALL SEVEN of the chaos emeralds?" Knuckles asked in disbelief.

"Not quite," Raymond started. "Luckily, one of the chaos emeralds landed near Tails' house. It's safe with him now." He sanctimoniously replied. "But there's another thing I learned that Eggman might not even know…" He said, taking a glance down at his fully healed leg.

"Well that's all very nice," Eggman impatiently muttered. "But now that you're here, why not test all the experimenting I've been doing upon you!"

"You're right; enough talk!" Sonic retorted. "Looks like you're plans have been foiled once again, and we'll make short work of whatever you managed to create anyways!"

"It's time we finally settle this!" Raymond exclaimed, ready to fight.

As the group of friends readied themselves for whatever the scientist could possibly throw at them, Eggman merely snickered. "E-101, attack!" He scornfully ordered.

Suddenly, the floor on other half of the room opened up, and a gigantic robot emerged from the depths; loaded with evil-looking weapons on all fronts and sides. All sorts and types of lasers and other vicious guns were mounted upon its shoulders and arms, giving the robot tremendous fire-power. It boasted immensely broad metal plates to protect its upper chest, and sharp spikes ran up and down both of its wrists. The robot's head was basically a large box mounted upon its gargantuan shoulders; its laser-like red eyes peering out from beneath its visor. As the newly designed E-101 stepped onto the stainless steel floor, the ground rumbling beneath its weight, Eggman crowed again as Sonic and his friends remained silent in awe.

"You see? As long as you oppose me, by the power of the Eggman Empire, I… Will… Bury… You!" Eggman exclaimed an ultimatum as E-101 took another massive step; the ground violently trembling once more. Inside the robot; concealed within its colossal breastplates, five of the chaos emeralds sparkled brilliantly, reflecting the light from the room. However, for some reason no one could explain, these chaos emeralds seemed… different. Instead of being the customary colors of yellow, blue, purple, white, and cyan, they shone the colors of obsidian black.

"What have you done to the emeralds, Eggman?" Knuckles exclaimed once he saw the diluted state of the chaos emeralds, voicing what his friends also thought.

"Progress takes sacrifice in the field of science and technology!" Eggman shouted in a crazed voice. "I haven't destroyed them; rather, I've made them 'servers' to the greater good for my power!"

With that, E-101 lifted one of its enormous arms over its head; took another step forwards, and brought the hand crashing down along the tiled surface of the room. As E-101's arm made contact, the floor of the entire room was shattered; tiles flung everywhere at extremely high velocity. The massive shockwave from the impact sent the whole room into a state of utter chaos as it shook from the ceiling to the ground, sending everyone flying to separate locations. Billows of dust filled the room, and the sound of tiles clattering against the floor resounded throughout. With just one blow, E-101 had successfully managed to discombobulate all the members of the Sonic team.

Yet, hope was not lost as a certain blue hedgehog came speeding right out of the dust at full speed. As Sonic immediately switched to his customary spin-dash attack, flinging his body aimed right at the chest of E-101, all eyes were upon the blue hedgehog to see if he could take down the behemoth. The blue dash made contact with metal at speeds of over six hundred miles per hour, but surprisingly, the metal withstood the impact, and Sonic was sent ricocheting off into another part of the room.

Sonic skidded to a stop along the broken floor, and glared up at Eggman. "Impossible!" Sonic shouted, scowling. "Nothing can stand up to me!"

"Well, it looks like you've just met your match, you pesky hedgehog!" Eggman snickered again. "Countless hours I've dedicated to studying the extent of your powers, and finally, it's paid off! Now, it's time to meet your doom!"

E-101 suddenly drew its hand off of the floor and brought it up; pointing it straight in the general location of a couple members of the Sonic team in retaliation and firing a couple missiles. On the other side of the room, all Sonic could do was watch helplessly as Knuckles gracefully jumped over and under the poorly aimed explosives, taking a giant leap towards E-101 to try to take a swipe at the robot. As Knuckles brought his fist crashing down upon the metallic surface of E-101's arm, the only sound that was heard was the sickening thud of flesh on metal as Knuckles' attack had no effect. As a result, the red echidna was forced to flee for safety as E-101 batted at the air; nearly missing him. Knuckles landed on the same side of the room as Sonic while E-101 prepared for another attack.

"I can't beat it!" Knuckles exclaimed in dismay. "What type of metal can stand up to both you AND me?"

In response to his friend, Sonic merely growled. "Eggman may actually have figured out something with that little scummy brain of his." He spat in contempt. "We'll just have to figure out another way to beat him."

Amy, seeing that Knuckles' and Sonic's hard-hitting attacks had no effect on the metal armor, decided against trying to utilize her piko-piko hammer. Instead, she satisfied herself with weaving through the gigantic, but incredibly slow E-101's legs and ending up on the same side as Sonic and Knuckles.

"Oh brother," Sonic started when he saw Amy. "Not now.."

"Come on, Sonic!" Amy indignantly replied. "I'm just trying to help; you'll need it if you want to beat this scrap of metal!"

"But how?" Knuckles asked in derision. "Not only can the metal withstand our attacks, but I'm guessing it's fire-proof AND idiot-proof as well!" And with that last comment, Knuckles turned back to look directly at Amy.

Amy glowered. "Hey, watch it before I-!" She started to make her way over to Knuckles before Sonic stepped in and intervened.

"Cut it out!" Sonic demanded, wincing a bit. "Amy's right; we're going to need everyone's help to beat Eggman!"

"And if you're not with us, you're AGAINST us!" Amy pointedly stated, looking at Knuckles.

"You know, once this is over—" Knuckles started before being cut off when E-101, noticing the trio, fired a round of missiles. The three of them temporarily disbanded in order to dodge their way to safety; explosions rippling throughout the area. From Sonic's vantage point, he could faintly detect small, needle-like missiles shooting back at the gigantic robot. Obviously however, it had no effect.

"Raymond!" Sonic trekked his way through the dust and debris to come to a stop near the red fox, crouching under a narrow over-cropping of scrap metal. "Any success?" Sonic asked his friend.

Raymond shook his head and coughed, a trace of white lining his back. "Nope, sorry. My mechanical wristbands have no effect against its armor, and every time I try to approach it to try to spray it with fire, the robot keeps spraying me back with dry ice."

"Dammit, Eggman's really figured us out!" Sonic cursed; his mind vigilantly trying to come up with a scheme to at least deal a blow at the behemoth.

"Dry Ice doesn't affect you, does it?" Raymond suddenly asked Sonic, who snapped out of his thoughts.

"No," Sonic briefly answered. "Why?"

"Well," Raymond started to think for a few moments before replying. "I've noticed that when E-101 sprays me with Dry Ice, it has to open up a compartment; temporarily removing a small section of its impenetrable metal armor…"

"So you're thinking that if you can distract E-101 into spraying you, that I could rush out and hit it at the unprotected spot?" Sonic asked as Raymond nodded a silent reply. "Well, it's not like we have anything better to do, so I'm all for it!"

In response, Raymond quickly scurried to another out-cropping, trying to a get a better vantage point while Sonic snuck around the perimeter towards the side of E-101. As they were doing so, the robot was preoccupied with trying to snatch Knuckles while he taunted it from a safe distance.

As E-101 tried to reach out at the red echidna, and failed, Raymond sprinted out from his hiding spot towards E-101 onto the battlefield. E-101, noticing the intruder, quickly turned around, and just like Raymond had described, a small section of its armor slid away as a whitish-like cloud billowed out. As it just barely touched Raymond, he seemed to freeze in place, just barely dodging another blow.

"Well, I guess that's my time to go!" Sonic muttered to himself as he too sped out from his hiding spot at full speed. As Sonic again started to spin-dash straight at the unprotected spot; everyone watching and holding their breaths, this time, as Sonic made contact, E-101 staggered backwards, reeling from the blow.

"Yes!" Sonic thought to himself as E-101 was forced to concede ground. Immediately, Knuckles raced out and delivered another blow to the robot's leg. And while it still didn't have any effect, it forced E-101 into making a mistake and swiping at the echidna, again exposing its unprotected spot as Sonic spin-dashed into it again, dislodging another cloud of whitish material. The section of armor finally concealed the spot, but the damage had already been done. E-101 was again sent stumbling backwards as the Sonic team gained more and more confidence, trying to reveal more of the robot's weaknesses.

Already, Raymond had recovered, and as the Sonic team regrouped, Eggman was clearly growing more and more frustrated; holding his head in contempt as he watched his robot being driven back. The once impenetrable metal was repeatedly being scorched with fire at a searing temperature. And though it was fire-proof, as E-101 retaliated by sending another cloud of dry-ice out, the dry-ice made contact with the extremely hot surface, instantly freezing it and rupturing the smooth surface. That vulnerable point gave Sonic and Knuckles an even more range to deal attacks at E-101; the two of them combining with vicious spin-dash and powerful punches to crack, and finally break the armor. E-101 did all it could to strike back by firing an array of missiles and lasers, but found they were bent badly out of shape as E-101 took another brutal pounding from Sonic and Knuckles.

"No! How can this be!" Eggman was literally screaming at the top of his lungs as finally, E-101 was sent crashing into the ground; defeated. "You haven't beat me!"

With the destruction of E-101, there was still no time to celebrate. One more objective still remained on the minds of everyone in the Sonic team as they turned to silently face the crazed scientist.

"You lose, Eggman." Sonic stated as he watched Eggman's mind literally snap; an unearthly and maniacally transformation take over the personality of the once mild scientist.

"You're wrong, hedgehog!" Eggman shouted back; his eyes ablaze with fury. A dark aura suddenly consumed the scientist as he issued yet another ultimatum. "You think you know everything, but not enough! I still hold the key to the chaos emeralds! Only I know of it's TRUE POWER!"

Suddenly, all five of the chaos emeralds rose from the corpse of E-101; their dark aura fiercely and intensely flashing in the dimmed light. They all formed a pentagonal circle way above the heads of the Sonic team; starting to slowly spin around and around until they were circling at an incredible speed. The dark aura that flowed from the chaos emeralds seemed to flow right into Eggman as he lifted his arms and proclaimed something inaudible to the heavens. His eggcarrier started to move, and Eggman started to rise above everyone, towards the ceiling.

"Wait!" Out of nowhere, Raymond jumped up and extended an arm, barely reaching the bottom of Eggman's vehicle and latching on.

"Raymond no!" Galaxina's shrill scream echoed around the room as everyone could only watch the event that was being played right in front of their eyes. As Raymond's hand made contact with the dark aura, suddenly, the flow of energy was abruptly disconnected, and the chaos emeralds suddenly flashed back to their normal state. They uselessly clattered onto the tiled surface as Eggman still boasted an incredible amount of dark energy surrounding his body, still being lifted up into the air by his own willpower with Raymond still hanging desperately on to try to topple Eggman. Suddenly, the dark form of Eggman spoke in a very loud, booming voice.

"THE SERVERS ARE MINE! I'VE TRANSFORMED THEM FOR MY PURPOSES! THEIR ENERGY FEEDS ME, AND I AM ONE WITH THEM!" The bizarre voice seemed to emit from everywhere at an astoundingly high decibel level.

And with that, the eggcarrier jerked once, and suddenly shot upwards into the ceiling with Raymond still hanging on; the fate of the battle very much teetering off of the edge.


	13. Chapter 13

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 12

Eggman's base

The Eggcarrier shot upwards into the ceiling; splintering the steel-structure to create a gaping hole as Eggman instantly fled the awestruck heroes, vanishing into the distance. With debris clattering around the group, a trance of witnessing an impossible feat upon them, Sonic quickly jumped into action right away with absolutely no time to waste.

"Come on guys! We've got to get out of here!" Sonic shouted above the din as he agilely jumped from various platforms to escape from the hole Eggman had punched through the ceiling.

"Easy for you to say…" Knuckles rebelliously grumbled as he quickly snatched the chaos emeralds and clambered out of the depths of Eggman's base, followed by Amy, Cream, and Galaxina, leaving behind the wreckage of what used to be Eggman's greatest creation, E-101, to smolder in the ashes.

Upon reaching the ground-level, Sonic paused for a second to let everyone recover, and then began speaking in a rushed tone of voice.

"Amy, Cream, and Galaxina, all of you go back to the Mobius Army and tell them to get out of here! Knuckles, you follow me upstairs to Eggman and Raymond… again…" Sonic ordered, but was met with immediate disagreement.

"What about you? Will you be alright, Mister Sonic?" Cream naively asked with pleading eyes.

"How do you expect to help anyways?" Amy cut in, hands on her hips. "What just happened is way beyond your control this time!"

"Don't-" Sonic started to object, but was interrupted again.

"Don't you see?" Amy asked, now pleading with Sonic. "Eggman WANTS you to follow! He has the power to bring this base down any second, and... and… don't you get it? It's a trap!"

"But we can't just leave Raymond!" Sonic countered persistently. "If we do, then how do you expect him to make it out alive?"

"Good god, why did he have to try to stop Eggman on his own?" Knuckles complained angrily, annoyed at the dilemma they were having to face.

"Actually…" Everyone was surprised to hear Galaxina speaking, who had been very quiet up until now. "I don't think that's why he did that. I think there's something else going on that we don't know about…"

"Well, whatever the case, we won't solve anything standing around here and talking!" Knuckles spoke out, ignoring the blue seederian.

"Well-" Sonic was cut short as the floor tilted, and the base suddenly seemed to lurch, throwing everyone off of their feet. As they hesitantly gathered their bearings, Sonic shook his head in utter disgust.

"Dammit!" He cursed bad-naturedly, realizing the gravity of the situation. "Amy's right, we don't have the time to rescue Raymond. Let's just hope he'll find his way out…" Sonic muttered, the empty sound of his feet plodding against the steel floors as he started to head for where he assumed the front of Eggman's base to be.

Meanwhile…

Completely blocking the only entrance to Eggman's base, the tense standoff between the Mobius army and the regiment of scorpions continued; the atmosphere growing more uncomfortable as both sides had not started a direct confrontation yet. Sweat slowly trickled down the back of Finnegan's neck, as he reassured himself by gripping one of his razor-sharp shruikens, wound up like a spring on edge. Moonlight filtered through a lone window, and beside him, Harper shifted tentatively, fidgeting nervously. It was so silent, Finnegan swore he could have heard a pin drop. Unwilling to break the temporary silence and peace, he remained stock still; though his legs ached to move from his position. Adrenalin was coursing throughout his body, but he had to remain motionless, or else…

"Hey, Fin…!" The grayish raccoon heard his name whispered so faintly, he wasn't even sure he had heard it. Deciding against answering, Finnegan ever so slightly tilted his head away from the noise, so as to discourage the speaker to try to get his attention again. Instead, numerous possibilities ran through the young soldier's mind as he sorted through ideas of his next move.

A low rumble was heard in the distance as the base floor tilted very minutely, followed by the sound of something falling and clattering to the ground. Shoot! So that's why the scorpions were here! Eggman's base was being slowly destroyed, and the scorpions were keeping the Mobius Army trapped within the base! But they couldn't afford a confrontation; they were outnumbered…

Luckily, Finnegan didn't have to come up with an idea to save himself and his comrades as a rupturing noise resounded; startling the Mobians as suddenly, Rogue came spinning out of the ceiling; one foot extended as she pummeled the lead scorpion right on the head.

Jolted into action, and realizing they had the initial element of surprise, Finnegan yelled out "Attack!" and began the battle to push back the remainder of Eggman's army. As he did so, the Mobius Army rapidly charged forwards and began their assault, to which the scorpions began retaliating. Instantly, the standoff had turned into a full-scale battle; the silence taken over by the din as the last stand began for both the Mobians and Eggman's army.

"Come on! We've got to get out of here! Drive them back!" Finnegan heard Harper shouting orders to the right contingent of the Mobius Army. Good, so he had figured out what was going on…

The Mobius army fought with renewed strength and hope as the emotionless scorpions were driven back to the very entrance they had come from, many of them trampled in the process. Red-hot bullets and lasers flew in all places, ripping and tearing into apart the floor and walls as Finnegan weaved by; tossing his shruikens into the metallic robots. Rogue, who had unexpectedly come back to help out the Mobians, was making a huge impact in the battle as well, as she used her screw-kick to drill the opposing robots.

The number of the scorpions thinned, as suddenly, a blue dash appeared out of nowhere and into the ranks of Eggman's army, followed by Knuckles, who swept the enemy aside with his fists. An explosion ensued, rumbling the ground, as metal parts were sent flying everywhere; the last of the scorpions. And suddenly, the entrance was free; nothing standing in the way as the Mobius Army flattened the scorpions on the way to triumph and freedom. As they rushed from the depths of Eggman's base to the moonlit snowy banks, the fresh air whipping at their backs, not one of them turned around to look back as they knew Eggman was finished.

"Look!" And suddenly, everyone chanced a look back as the base gave a huge groan, tilted dangerously, and started to crumble; metal debris tumbling off of the edges. The top half of the base slid off, and crashed to the ground in a thunderous boom; Eggman's base completely annihilated. As the impact wore away, bits of snow were thrown up into the air as the Mobius Army celebrated the defeat of their enemy; jumping around like kids at a circus.

"We did it!" Finnegan yelled into the night air; his breath leaving his mouth in a translucent vapor as he pumped one fist and accidentally knocked over Knuckles. "Whoops, sorry about that!" He apologized, and rushed over to where his friends were at, leaving Knuckles to slowly pick himself up, and wipe off the snow that had gathered on his body and dreadlocks.

"Hey, watch it kiddo…" Knuckles grumbled, but couldn't stay mad for long as a trace of a smile slowly formed upon his face. "Yeah… we did it…"

However, the Sonic team couldn't celebrate just yet; someone specific wasn't there with them. All they could only hope he had gotten out before the base had collapsed…

"Raymond?" Sonic sped back over to the destruction of Eggman's base, away from the jubilant Mobians. Sonic was only met with silence, however, as he carefully searched everywhere. "Raymond? Come on, you can't be dead!"

Suddenly, the rest of the Sonic team was at his side, searching around for their lost friend, but in vain. "No, no… this can't be right... it's not supposed to end this way…"Sonic whispered; his voice lost in the lonely wind. He was remotely aware of the others shouting something, but he couldn't quite make out the words…

All of a sudden, a low engine-like noise was heard in the cold air. Sonic whipped his head around, only to see the dreaded Eggcarrier and Metal Raymond fleeing in the distance; much too far to be able to give chase. So they hadn't been able to defeat the scientist after all…

"Dammit! Dammit! That's not how this is supposed to end!" Sonic shouted in vain, furious that everything was going wrong. He started to run towards the direction of Eggman, but finding out he couldn't see them anymore in the dark night, he gave up his futile attempts, instead satisfying himself with kicking an upturned, wooden board that had come from the wreckage.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright…" Amy quietly reassured by Sonic side, placing one hand on his shoulder. "Eggman can keep running, but we'll always find a way to beat him…"

Sonic heaved a forlorn sigh, realizing she was right. "I know, it's just that… I thought… finally… we could… I don't know anymore…" He let out another sigh as he let Amy comfort him; remaining silent and listening to the hollow sound of the frigid wind.

"Guys, come over here!" Galaxina's usually composed voice rang across the frozen landscape, breaking the silence. Instantly, the Sonic team rushed over to where she was, behind a snowbank, only to see…

"…You know, I had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of you…" Sonic grimly stated, before forming a reluctant smile and crouching beside the familiar red fox, who had been sitting by a snowbank the whole time.

"Yeah, and I figured you guys didn't want to have seen the last of me either…" Raymond replied casually, smirking, but blushed when Galaxina dropped to her knees and embraced him tightly. "Another hug…? You know, I wasn't in any real danger at all that time around…"

"I ought to punch you or something…" Knuckles threatened, annoyed that Raymond had made them worry, and was sitting nonchalantly as if nothing had happened… "And how did you escape Eggman anyways? What happened?" He asked Raymond curiously, temporarily forgetting his anger in face of the relief that he wasn't dead.

"A lot of luck… and this…" Raymond suddenly pulled out an electronic box, about the size of his thumb, and began gently toying with it in one hand.

"What's that…?" Sonic asked intriguingly upon receiving the strange component from Raymond. He brought it closer to his face in order to inspect it, but couldn't make out what it was.

"It's some sort of data storage microchip Eggman used to save his research and information while working on it," Raymond replied, indicating towards the component. "I probably won't understand any of it, but maybe Tails will, if you give it to him… It could help us fully understand the depth of what Eggman was trying to do, and the full power of the chaos emeralds, if the need ever arises…"

"So, what happened with you and Eggman anyways? Why did you try to follow him back in the basement?" Knuckles repeated once Raymond didn't answer his initial question.

"Well…" Raymond stopped to ponder as he gazed off into the tranquil, night sky, before finally answering. "Maybe next time, I'll tell you once it becomes important. Then you'll know what I'm talking about…" He artfully and cryptically replied, trailing off into silence. "Why don't you guys all sit?" Raymond motioned for the Sonic team to sit down and rest their legs. "It's been a long day, and I think we deserve some rest… Besides, we've finally defeated Eggman, and that's got to count for something."

"Actually, we didn't," Sonic objected, sighing. "Eggman and Metal Raymond escaped.."

"So what? Eggman's nothing without his computers and tools, which he lacks right now, since they were wiped out along with his base. For the moment, and probably forever, Eggman's been beat.." The Sonic team took a moment to digest Raymond's words, before acknowledging by nodding their heads.

"The real power behind the evil is what Eggman can create and use, not himself…" Sonic agreed.

"And next time he shows his revolting face around these parts, we'll just go right back to what we do best and beat him again!" Amy ardently replied.

"And with Mister Sonic and Mister Knuckles, Eggman won't be able to do anymore bad things, right Cheese?" Cream asked her pet chao, who replied with a lively "Chao!"

"So we might not have fully defeated Eggman, but we stopped him from being able to use his evil to contaminate his creations into evil as well…" Knuckles spoke up, glad that they wouldn't hear from the scientist any more.

"Yeah… we did it…" Raymond slowly responded, as the dawn of a new beginning started to shine upon the landscape; a new day just beginning…


	14. Chapter 14

The Eggman Wars: Ch. 13

Mobius City

Two weeks later…

Already, things were back to normal... or about as close as it could get anyways. The remains of the smoldering ashes and broken rubbles of Eggman's base had been disposed of properly, buried deep underground as compost. For the first time ever, the presence of the evil scientist was just a distant memory of the past. No one had ever seen or heard of Eggman and his corrupt assistant, Metal Raymond, since they had escaped several days ago…

In the meantime however, the Mobians had kept themselves occupied by clearing the roads and sidewalks of the mounds of snow, returning to their everyday lives thanks in part to Tails, Cosmo, and their friend Collin. The six chaos emeralds, including the one Tails had, was returned to their proper place around the Master Emerald. The seventh was missing, but everyone assumed it was still stuck in space, lost forever.

The lives of the soldiers in the Mobius Army and the Sonic team had dramatically changed after their defeat of Eggman, pronounced as celebrities and heroes in the eyes of the relieved citizens. Upon returning that fateful night, the Mayor had thanked each and every one of them personally, never ceasing to clarify all the great deeds they had done for this land. At the same time, Sonic managed to slip Tails the microelectronic chip in hopes to fully comprehend Eggman's work, but now wasn't the time. Sweet victory was in the minds of everyone as they all walked with their heads upright; proud of what they had accomplished.

Sonic spent the time relaxing and stretching his legs by running around and on the now white landscape, claiming that he could run on anything. Amy kept up her usual routine of chasing him, while Knuckles returned to Angel Island, now content that the chaos emeralds wouldn't fall into the wrong hands anymore while he was guarding them.

Tails and Cosmo happily returned to their own home, each glad to be in the company of the other and spending time together. They generally kept to themselves although it wasn't unusual to see them in the city or beach together, or to see one of Tails' planes flying around occasionally. Every once in a while, Sonic would drop by and visit, but only for a little while as he rushed off somewhere, seeming to be finally free, now that his longtime rival was vanquished. Raymond meanwhile ended up building a house for him and Galaxina, off of the south coast where they currently reside now, also in the company of each other, while Cream's mother came back from her trip, and continues to take care of her daughter. Finally, Rogue, according to the mayor, has been decided to be trusted, although some were still wary about where her true loyalty stood; more specifically, Knuckles in particular. At any rate however, Rogue was presented with the opportunity to join the Mobius City council as a leading position, which she declined, not surprisingly, and flew off in hopes of treasure hunting once again…

But all's well that ends well, and as the past couple of weeks passed by in a blur of happiness and tranquility, the moment everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived…

Multicolored confetti sprinkled overhead and a large banner flew overhead in the lazy wind, flapping noisily as the fresh afternoon air descended upon the citizens of Mobius, picturesque white clouds languidly drifting in the azure sky. A gathering was being held right in the center; the city residents forming a compacted and rather vast crowd around a circular, stone podium in the middle. In the middle of this platform stood a few soldiers representing the Mobius Army, as well as the entire Sonic team, except for Rogue. The chattering amongst the locals composed all of the background noise, but as the Mayor confidently strode up to the middle of the podium, one hand gripping a wired microphone and the other raised high over his head, the crowd instantly quieted down, eager to hear what he was going to say.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Fellow Citizens!" The Mayor started to project his voice over the citizens in a loud, booming voice. "For so long, we have endured the harsh pains of the tyranny of Eggman! From the times of my previous successors, like Princess Sally Acorn, up until now, he has been a knife in our back, ready to undermine us at first chance! But…" Here, the mayor paused dramatically as the crowd buzzed quietly. "…we never gave up. Eggman may have broken our cities and walls and buildings, but not our spirit and hearts! We, the proud residents of Mobius, have finally shown what we can do! Our proud army, have taken the battle to Eggman, and won!" The mayor gestured towards the representatives of the Mobius Army as the crowd cheered and clapped, before facing the crowd once more. "Not to mention, our beloved heroes!" The mayor turned the other way, gesturing at the Sonic team, who waved as the crowd cheered again.

"They have done so much for us, we will never cease to be thankful!" The mayor proclaimed loudly, grabbing the attention of everyone again. "And that's why I plan to honor them publically, to show my greatest appreciation for these fine and resilient soldiers!"

The mayor then proceeded to turn his back towards the crowd as he strolled up to the soldier on the far left, taking the time to shake his hand and smile, while placing a golden medallion around his neck.

"Thank you for your service, we can never hope to repay you for what you've done." The Mayor gratefully stated as Finnegan grinned and shook his hand enthusiastically.

"No need, to, kind sir! It's what I would have done anyways!" The raccoon replied politely, flashing a grin back as the Mayor continued.

"To show my appreciation for the valiant efforts you have put forth to this organization, how would you like it if I were to make you a Captain of the army?" The mayor asked, a trace of a smile forming on his sensible face.

"T-That… T-That be… great!" Finnegan choked out a reply, awestruck at what the Mayor had told him.

"Of course, with great power comes great responsibility," The Mayor lowered his voice a little, taking on a more serious and foreboding tone. "You are full aware of that, right?"

Finnegan gulped loudly. "Y-Yes sir! I'll do my best to make sure you won't regret this!" The raccoon saluted, as the Mayor chuckled in response.

"I can see a bright future for you, young man. Just remember to have integrity and help those in need. And always, ALWAYS follow what your heart tells you." And with that, the Mayor gave an enthralled Finnegan a hearty pat on the shoulder, and turned to face the next soldier in line.

"Ah, I remember you; you were the one that helped Tails and Cosmo, no? Collin, is it?" The Mayor inquisitively asked as Collin bobbed his head up and down quickly a few times.

"Yes, er, good day to you, sir!" Collin followed the lead of his comrade, Finnegan, and saluted the Mayor as well.

"Well well, always polite, aren't you? Never ceasing to put others before yourself…" The Mayor complemented with a kind smile.

"Well, er, Sir, I try my best…" Collin awkwardly managed a reply, lowering his head and seemingly becoming interested in his shoes.

The Mayor chuckled again in response to Collin's embarrassment. "I understand you aren't inclined to be a soldier that deals with weapons and war, am I right?"

"Y-Yes, Sir…" Collin answered briskly, eyes still looking at his feet.

"Not all soldiers have to. Honestly, in most cases, the way you really win people over is through persuasive words and peaceful agreements…" The Mayor started to explain to a puzzled Collin.

"I guess…." Collin hesitantly replied, wondering where this conversation was going.

"You know, in my opinion, I think you'd make a fine diplomat of sorts. Would you happen to be interested?" The Mayor curiously asked, winking.

"A diplomat? You mean, those people that try to solve conflicts and agree on things if a conflict arises?" The Mayor nodded as a reply. "I-… I'd love to, actually!" Collin managed a small smile, thankful that the Mayor understood his dislike for war and fighting.

"In fact, you can be the chief ambassador and representative of Mobius in my place, if you find that offer worth considering." The Mayor offered cordially.

"Yeah! Wow, what an honor, your Excellency!" Collin grinned, awed that he would be chosen out of the many soldiers for a job like this.

"You too, have a bright young future. As long as you don't let your emotions overpower your mind, that is…" The Mayor suddenly dropped to a darker tone. But before Collin could ask the Mayor what he meant, the Mayor was already off presenting Amy, Cream, Galaxina, and Knuckles with awards in front of the ecstatic crowd.

Finally, as the Mayor reached Tails and Cosmo, both of whom were standing right next to each other, inseparable. The wise owl had to smile at the warm sight of young love, and asked how the two of them were doing, in which he received positive replies.

"You know," The Mayor continued. "Without your help, Mobius would still be trapped under ten feet of snow, and we wouldn't even be here today!"

"That's why we helped!" Tails lightly joked as Cosmo giggled and the Mayor chuckled. "Besides, I couldn't leave Mobius in a state like that. Of course I had to help; it's an obligation as a member of the Sonic team!" He lightly replied, proud of what he had accomplished with the help of Cosmo.

"Of course, I can never thank you for what you've done for us…" The Mayor confessed. "However, I hope that one day, I will repay you. If there's anything you two ever need, let me know!"

"Thanks, and we will!" Tails and Cosmo replied cheerfully as the Mayor moved onto the next recipient.

"Sonic…. Sonic…. Sonic…. What am I supposed to do about you now?" The Mayor joked, chuckling as Sonic laughed along.

"Well, for starters, you can forget about Eggman!" Sonic optimistically replied, flashing a thumbs up.

"We are really in your debt… you know that, right?" The Mayor informed Sonic, who simply shook his head.

"Not at all! I don't need any rewards; the only thing I really need is the knowledge my friends are safe…" Sonic modestly replied, turning his head sideways to look at the beings he called "friends".

"Well… at any rate, what are you going to do now that our enemy is gone?" The Mayor asked the blue hedgehog, who shrugged a reply.

"I don't know really, but robot-smashing sure is going to disappear as a pastime now," Sonic joked, and continued. "I was thinking about taking a short vacation actually; just a trip by myself around the land of Mobius to think some things over…"

"Of course, you'll be staying around to help Mobius City out if there's any threat, though unlikely, right?" The Mayor curiously asked, as Sonic nodded vigorously.

"That's a given! I'll always be around if you guys need my help!" Sonic earnestly answered.

"Good! Because I don't know what we'd do without you!" The Mayor exclaimed in relief, though poking a little fun at the cobalt hedgehog.

"And I don't know what I'd do without you guys either! I enjoy doing what I do, because of you all!" Sonic addressed this to the excited crowd, who cheered and chanted Sonic's name a few times.

Finally, as Sonic and the Mayor parted with a few words, the Mayor turned to his final recipient…

"How long have you been on this fair land, Raymond?" The Mayor curiously asked Mobius' newcomer.

Raymond casually shrugged in response. "I guess almost a month now…"

"Do you like it here? Is there anything we could do to make your stay better at all?" The Mayor asked, wondering if the red fox was satisfied.

Raymond in return just laughed kindly. "No, I quite enjoy your planet! The people are all really nice; and the landscape is just so beautiful… That is, when it's not underneath piles and piles of snow…" He answered, prompting the Mayor to ask whether or not he'd help in clearing out the rest of the snow with his pyrokinesis powers, of which Raymond readily accepted the task.

"At any rate…" The Mayor continued after Raymond had agreed to help out. "Do you plan on staying with the Sonic team to fight any future enemies, if they endanger Mobius?"

"Yeah… I…" And suddenly, the clear, blue sky in front of Raymond gave way to a doorway of heavenly light; and a saintly figure appeared from it; arms outstretched…

"You…" Raymond softly whispered in awe, well aware the Mayor could hear what he was saying, but couldn't share Raymond's vision. "Emily…"

Emily smiled, and giggled; her voice as an angelic and melodic tune to the red fox's ears. "Yes, it's me…" She gestured at the Mayor and everyone surrounding the podium, though no one else could see her heavenly form besides Raymond. "You seem to be doing alright…" She winked and giggled again.

"I… I guess…" Raymond's voice was stuck in his throat. "I've done what you asked, and tried my best to live a somewhat normal life…" He bowed his head in self pity, but Emily reached out and gently placed one hand under his chin, lifting it up slowly so that the two of them were looking at each other in the eyes. "I really miss you, though…" He sadly confessed as Emily's face grew sympathetic.

"I know…" Emily sighed sorrowfully, but managed a soft smile. "But look how far you've come! You've came here; helped defeat this planet's archenemy, and not once did you give in!"

"Yeah, but I feel like I'm getting weaker…" Raymond uncertainly countered, aware that each passing day, his longing for the pink fox was making him feel miserable. However, his objection was cut short as he was shushed by Emily.

"But in my eyes, you're only getting stronger; both physically and emotionally…." She compassionately answered, her eyes full of love and warmth like the rays of a sun during sunrise.

"What's my purpose then, now? What am I supposed to do…?" Raymond dubiously asked, uncertain of his future now.

However, when Emily reached out suddenly and placed one warm hand on his heart, he remembered what she had told him a long time ago… That he had to only search within his heart, and follow what it told him…

As the fleeting image of Emily faded away, Raymond was left standing there, alone. He was acutely aware that the entire crowd had gone silent; including his friends on the podium. They were are staring at him strangely; a confused look upon their faces.

"Raymond? You okay?" He heard Sonic ask; but it was just a blur in his mind as Raymond took one shaky step, then another, remembering what had taken place and seemed so real to him…

"Sir?" Raymond tentatively approached the Mayor, who seemed surprised as well. "I… I've made my decision in response to your question…"

"It was just an innocent question on my part, but go ahead…" The Mayor gestured for Raymond to continue speaking. However, when the Mayor held out his hands and felt a couple of metallic objects drop into them, he opened his eyes, surprised to see Raymond's trademark mechanical wristbands resting there.

"What…?" The Mayor asked in shock.

Raymond slowly started to talk to everyone, once he had relinquished the only weapons he had left. "If you don't know; over a month ago, I lost someone very close to me in the midst of war…" Here, most people nodded, as everyone pretty much knew what Raymond was talking about.

"Now don't get me wrong; if anything were to go wrong, I'd be there to help in a heartbeat. But…" Raymond paused, while he searched for the right words to explain what he was feeling. "But I feel as if I've finally defeated the last demon in my life. I've made it through my last battle, and survived. And now it's time that I finally retire in peace; fully proud of all the heroic friends I've had the honor of being by my side in battle. I want to start a new life; one without the pains of war. Because, I've finally come to terms about my old life; what's happened has happened. I don't plan to seek revenge… It's time I restart from the beginning, and luckily, I've found someone very special who I know has the heart to help me through this…" And as Raymond started to turn around to introduce the person he was talking about, she ran over and gave him a big hug, embracing him tightly.

As the happy scene played out, the crowd suddenly erupted into cheers; warmed at the tender sight. And as Raymond and Galaxina stayed in each other's grasp; finally, just finally, maybe things could go right. Because even though both of them were still uncertain of their future, one thing the two of them were sure about was the fact that they'd have each other from now on. And, because, just like in every story, theirs had to intertwine sooner or later…

And maybe, just maybe, this story had a happy ending after all…

-END OF "THE EGGMAN WARS"-

-START OF "DOWNWARD SPIRAL"-


End file.
